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EIGHTH THOUSAND. 

DARING DEEDS 



OF 



AMEEICANHEKOES 



WITH 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

BDITED Bl 

JMIES 0. BRAYMAK, ESQ. 



"How sleep the brare, -who sink to rest, 
With all their country's honor blest." 



KEWYOEK AND AUBURN: 
MILLER, ORTON & MULLIGAN, 

KewTork: 25 Tark Eow.— Auburn: 107 Genesce-st. 

1855. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 185 i, bj 
GEO. H. DERBY AND CO. 

In the Clerk's Office cf the District Court for the Northern Dictrict 
of New York. 






AUBURN : 

MILLER, OliTOX & MULLIGAN, 

STEKEOTYPEiiS AND PFaXTEKS. 



PREFACE 



The object of the following pages is to place upon per- 
manent record a continuous account of the "daring deeds" 
of the heroes of our country. The work makes no claims 
to originality of matter. We have gathered from all au- 
thentic sources within our reach interesting and important 
incidents which have transpired from the commencement of 
the Revolutionary struggle, to the conclusion of the Mexican 
war, whether upon sea or land, in which our countrymen 
have borne a part. Our design has been to form a book of 
attractive and popular reading — to embalm in the memory 
of the American people, the sacrifices, the patriotism, the 
heroism, the sufferings and dangers of those to whom we 
owe the achievement and the preservation of our freedom. 
The Revolutionary struggle was indeed a time of peril. 
Its history has been written by able hands ; but history 
deals in general facts — in great achievements, and great 
results. Those lesser details — deeply interesting and thrill- 
ing in themselves — those personal adventures that go to 
make up the Romance of War, are passed by, and only 
exist as fi-agments, scattered through ephemeral works. 



iv PREFACE. 

without continuity or relation. It is our purpose to give 
these form and shape, in connection with the more important 
events which have transpired in the wars of our country. 
What is true of the Revolution, is equally true of the second 
contest with Great Britain, the Mexican and Indian wars. 

Whatever may be said by the man of Peace, that in 
which any people most glory is the martial achievements of 
their renowned Heroes. It has been so from the beginning, 
and will continue to be, for ought we know, to the end. 
Search history through, back to the remotest antiquity, and 
prominent upon its pages, stands the record of great and 
startling military achievements. The American people partake 
in this universal sentiment To stimulate it, and keep it 
alive, they have the additional one of gratitude to their 
Heroes for the liberty which they have given them — for 
the free institutions which are the result of their ^^ daring 
deeds" If the following pages contribute to perpetuate this 
sentiment of gratitude, to keep burning pure and bright the 
fire upon the altar of patriotism, our end will have been 
accomplished. 



CONTENTS 



Introduction ., 9 

Battle of Lexington 17 

Fight at Concord Bridge 23 

Battle of Bunker Hill 31 

Taking of Ticonderoga by Colonel Allen 42 

Patriotic Father 46 

Arnold's March through the Wilderness 47 

Death of General Montgomery 49 

Washington, Commander in Chief of the American Army 52 

Eldridge Gerry 53 

Richard Henry Lee 54 

Attack on Sullivan's Island 57 

Declaration of Independence 61 

Death of Captain Hall 62 

Battle of Trenton 65 

Captain George Little 67 

General Andrew Pickens 70 

An Extraordinary Retreat 73 

Don't give up the Vessel 74 

Military Courtesy 75 

The Scotch Prize ; or, the Little Yankee 78 

Battle of Fort Moultrie 79 

Sergeant Jasper at Fort Moultrie 83 

John Adams 85 

Battle of Princeton 87 

Battle of Brandywine 91 



VI CONTENT?. 

Battle of Germantowii 95 

General Wayne^s War Horse 1G2 

Colonel M'Lane. 103 

Rev. Thomas AUen *. 108 

Battle of Bennington 110 

Battle of Saratoga c. . . 116 

Revolutionary Reminiscence 119 

March of Burgoyne 122 

Battle of Oriskany 1.26 

Death of General Herkimer ...,,•, 139 

Marion the Republican General. •••• 144 

Putnam's Feat • • 149 

Death of Captain Biddle 151 

Battle of Monmouth 155 

General Lee 157 

Paul Jones' Naval Battle. . ; 159 

Kncampment at Valley Forge 161 

Colonel George R. Clarke 164 

Affairs at Schoharie 168 

Sergeant Jasper 172 

Storming of Stony Point 179 

Colonel Isaac Hayne 184 

Intrepidity of Colonel White 188 

Prudence and Bravery of Major Lee 190 

Sullivan's Expedition 191 

Adventure of David Elerson 192 

Battle of Newtown 198 

Expedition of Colonel Broadhead 205 

Capture of Major Andre 212 

Death of Baron De Kalb 21 4 

Battle of King's Mountain 219 

Battle of the Cowpens 223 

Mitchell 229 



CONTENTS. Vii 

Naval Engagements ' 230 

Defeat of Major Gainey 231 

Marion at Nelson's Ferry 233 

Adventures of Major James and Captain Witlierspoon . . 23G 

Black Mingo 238 

Defeat of Colonel Tynes 241 

Battle of Eutaw Springs 244 

Battle of Guilford 247 

Capture of Fort Watson 267 

Capture of Fort Mctte 269 

La Fayette in Virginia 274 

Vv'ayne's Victory at the Miami Rapids 281 

Capture of L'Insurgente 284 

The Constitution and Vengeance 287 

Burning of the Philadelphia 290 

Bombardment of Tripoli 295 

Loss of the Inti'epid 302 

Expedition of General Eaton 307 

Capture of the Giierriere 310 

The Wasp and Frolic 312 

Defense of Fort Harrison 316 

Capture of the Macedonian 319 

Captm-e of the Adams and Caledonia 321 

Battle of Queenston 323 

Geiieral Scott and the Indian Chief 328 

Capture of the Java 331 

Capture of the Peacock 834 

Death of General Pike 336 

Captain Holmes' Expedition 339 

Capture of the Penguin 342 

Battle of Tohopeca.-. 343 

Cruise of the Essex 348 

Defense of Fort Stephenson 352 



1 CONTENTS. 

Capture of the Epem'er. -. 356 

Defense of Sackett's Harbor 857 

Capture of the Reindeer 362 

Enterprise and Boxer 364 

Commodore Perrj's Victory on Lake Erie 367 

Battle of the Thames , 373 

Battle of Chippewa 378 

Battle of Limdy's Lane 384 

Sortie of Fort Erie 395 

Assault on Fort Erie 398 

Battle of Plattsburg 404 

Battle of Lake Champlain 408 

Defense of Baltimore 410 

Battle of New Orleans 413 

Colonel Clinch and the Indians 425 

Battle of Okee-cho-bee 427 

Battle of Palo Alto 433 

Captaui May's Charge 443 

Captain Morris and Major Allen 446 

Battle of Resaca de la Palma 448 

Taking of Sonoma 454 

Capture of Montgomery 458 

Battle of San Pasqual 470 

Battle of Bracito 472 

Battle of Buena Vista , 475 

Capture of Alvarado 477 

Taking of Puebla 478 

Affair at the National Bridge 480 

General Riley at Contreras 482 

Callant Affair of Colonel de Russey 489 

Capture of the Tuspan 495 

Capture of Santa Cruz de Ilosales , 497 



IKTKODUCTIOIT. 

The American Revolution forms an epoch in tlie history 
of the world. It stands prominent as one of the most im 
portant, not only in the immediate consequences -which resulted 
from it, but in the continued influence it is destined to exert 
upon the destinies of the world through all coming time. 
It opened a new era in the science of government, and, like 
the advent of the Christian religion, it established a new 
dispensation. 

Our country was baptized with the blood, and consecrated 
by the prayers of the Pilgrims. It has been the asylum 
of the persecuted of all nations. First came the Pilgrims, 
who, in the language of their .covenant, " fled from their na- 
tive land, and homes, and relatives, for the glory of God 
and the preservation of the Christian religion." Then came 
the pious Hugenots of France, escaping also from a perse- 
cution, which had Hterally made the mountains desert and 
the vales to run down with blood. These ara the founders 
of our country — the ancestry to which we look back with 
a feeling of exultant pride. 

Soon came the time of fiery trial and severe tribulation — 
the ceaseless watch — the house of God begirt with sentinels 



X INTRODUCTION. 

and filled with armed worshipers — the night attack by the 
ruthless savage upon the frontier settlement — the burning 
dwelling — the murdered infant, slain in its mother's arms — 
the bleeding father scalped and trodden under foot, ere the 
warm spirit had departed — the feeble woman led captive and 
driven away, and, when nature could no longer endure, suf- 
fering torture, and death — the stout resistance — the fear- 
ful vengeance, and final triumph. These, and a thousand 
other trials were the portion of those who laid the early 
foundations of the institutions whose blessings are now ours. 

No sooner was the savage foe subdued — driven back 
from river and mountain — no sooner did those self-sacrificing 
men begin to enjoy the fruits and reap the rewards of their 
toil and sufiering, than they became an object of jealousy 
and envy to the mother country. England, led by a nar- 
row policy, no sooner saw the Colonies in a situation to de- 
fend and provide for themselves, than she resolved to impose 
taxes and assessments for the benefit of the Home Govern- 
ment, at the same time denying them a share in the enact- 
ment of those laws by which they were to be taxed. 

These unjust imposts and tyrannical measures met, at the 
outset, with strong and determined opposition, restrained 
though it was by a habitual reverence to the majesty of 
the King and Parliament of Great Britain. But, as the 
oppressions increased, and the hand of tyranny became more 
onerous, the elastic spirits of the Colonists, though bowed 



I 2f T K D U C T ION. Xl 

dov/n for tne moment, recoiled witli temfic force upon the 
oppressors. The measures adopted by the Ministry of Eng- 
land to subdue the rising spirit of discontent, was but so 
much fuel to the volcano which was soon to shake New 
England to its center, and whose premonitions of the catas- 
trophe were felt throughout the Colonies. But it was at 
the Battle of Lexington that it burst forth in all its fury, 
with a glare that illuminated rock, liill and dale, forest and 
prairie, and with a shock that was felt throughout Chris- 
tendom. 

The Battle of Lexington is the first act in the opening 
drama — the first of the ^'■Baring Deeds'''' achieved by our 
Revolutionary Fathers. It gave earnest of the spirit with 
which they entered the fearful struggle, and of the final 
triumph which crowned their heroic efibrts, after years of 
toil, danger and blood. Familiar as household words though 
the events of the Revolution are, the time will never come, 
we trust, when they will cease to be of deep and absorbing 
interest to every American freeman — when their recital will 
cease to make the bosom of every patriot glow with renewed 
emotion. 

Then followed the trials and sufferings of the Seven Year's 
Vv'ar. Men accustomed to the implements of agriculture and 
the mechanic arts siezed the sword and the musket and went 
forth to battle for the right. The habiliments of the citizen 
were exchanged for the covering of the soldier — man left 



Xll INTRODUCTION. 

his home and his happy fireside, for the tented field, the 
camp of war. The instruments of peace were ^vrought into 
instruments of death, and the patriot marched forth to meet 
the oppressor with a firm resolve to conquer or die. The 
farewell prayer was said, and the last ofiering made upon the 
altar of domestic affection. 

. Thus commenced the struggle for the achievement of our 
country's independence. Such the spirit of our fathers. The 
fire which had been enkindled at Lexington and Bunker Hill 
continued its course, burning fiercer and brighter, and gain 
ing strength as it passed over the land. It sped like a wild 
contagion, as it were, upon the wings of the wind. It ascen- 
ded the hills of JN'ew E no-land, and shed its ho-ht afar ofi" 
upon the waters of the south. One spirit — one mind ani- 
mated the people. They saw their country threatened with 
subjection to the will of a tyrant Ministry, on the one hand — 
stripped of its rights and privileges — while, on the other, 
war — desolating war — stared them in the face, with all its hor- 
rors. But a spirit of resistance, deep and strong, is abroad — 
the crisis is passed — all is staked upon the issue of the con- 
test. - This was an age of heroes. They fearlessly bared their 
bosoms to the storm, to avert the destiny which threatened 
the country they loved. The struggle was long and bloody. 
All the evils which humanity can sufler, they endured. But 
they shrank not, nor faltered. The polar star of their hope 
still rose above the troubled horizon, to light them on, aa 



I N T K O D U C T I N . Xlll 

the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did the 
children of Israel in the wilderness. At times it is indeed 
obscured by the clouds of defeat — but they, vanquished, 
despair not of the result. Their cause is approved of Hea- 
ven, and cheered by its smiles, they persevere. The Eagle 
of Freedom flutters aloft over the prostrate Lion of the boasted 
power of Britain. Peace crowns the effoi-ts of patriotism, 
and Liberty, the first born of Heaven, is the reward of the 
toils of the oppressed. Its banner is yet floating over us, 
and palsied be the hand that would dishonor it. 

Our fathers of the Revolution laid the foundation and com- 
menced the superstructure — leaving to future generations 
the task of completing the glorious edifice, they so auspi- 
ciously began. Their diflBculties and dangers ended not with 
the close of the war. They found themselves, it is true, 
independent of British rule — free from the oppressions that 
had impelled them to take up arms. But this was all. Chaos 
was before them. An exhausted country was around them. 
Devastation had marked the footsteps of the invaders — thi 
ai-ts of peace had been neglected, and the country was with- 
out resources. The Colonies were held together only by the 
recollection of common sufferings, and common dangers. 
The instrument which connected them was but as a rope 
of sand. A government was to be formed, and institutions 
molded. Conflicting interests and prejudices were to be hai 
monized, and a new order of things established. 



XIV INTKODUCTION. 

But the same overruling Providence that guided them safely 

through the long and fearful struggle, was with them still. 
As He had given them valor in war, so He gave them wis- 
dom in council. They saw and fully appreciated the dangers 
to which their liberated country was exposed. The wise men 
of the nation — many of those who had periled their "lives, 
their fortunes, and their sacred honors," for the achievement 
of its liberties, were called by the people to devise ways and 
means to meet the crisis. They proved themselves equal to 
the emergency, and the American constitution was the result 
of their labors. That instrument — the perfection of human 
wisdom, as applied to the formation of government, yet re- 
mains in its original strength and purity — the palladium of 
our liberty — the admiration of the world. Under it, the 
unioi2 of the States was effected. Since j:hen, their progress 
Las been onward and upward. From thirteen, they have 
become thirty-one, and the three million of inhabitants have in- 
creased to twenty-three million. That this Union, so fraught 
with national and individual blessings — so necessary for the 
protection and preservation of civil, political, and religious 
liberty, may be preserved in its integrity is the prayer of 
every patriot heart. 

After the formation of the government order soon came 
out of confusion, and what before was without form and void, 
assumed shape and fair proportions. Peace continued to 
abide within our borders for over a quarter of a century, 



I N T K O D U C T I O N . XV 

interrupted only by sliglit diflSculties with France, the Barbary 
Powers, and an occasional conflict with the savages. 

But England had never, in fact, conceded our full inde- 
pendence. She had ceased to demand of us allegiance, it is 
true; but she interposed other demands equally humiliating, 
to our national pride, and contrary to every principle of 
international law. Increasing in impudence as we forebore 
to chastise her arrogance, she continued her encroachments 
and rose in her demands and pretensions until the spirit of 
the country was aroused. A second war ensued. In this 
too, our countrymen desplayed deeds of daring equal to those 
of the Revolutionary period. Having accompHshed the objects 
for which the war was commenced, and again humbled the 
pride of England, an honorable peace was concluded. 

Our country enjoyed a long period of tranquility, accom- 
panied by physical and moral progress unparalleled in the 
history of the world. A few Indian wars alone break the 
monotony of our history until 1846, when we suddenly found 
ourselves involved in a war with a neighboring Republic. 
This contest, too, was fruitful of " Daring Deeds," but is so 
recent that it is unnecessary to more than allude to it here. 

Incidents in the history of our country are valuable for 
study. The record of what our ancestors have achieved and 
suffered to purchase our Hberties, will impress upon the minds 
of the young an idea of their priceless value. Let the children 
of America oe early imbued with a love for their country. 



XVI INTRODUCTION. 

Teach them the principles of true patriotism, by the way 
and by the fireside ; going out and coming in. Rehearse to 
them while in their infant years, the story of the Pilgrims 
Tell them the story of the Revolution, and their love of 
country shall " grow with their growth, and strengthen witt 
their stren^^th." 





I) 



DARING DEEDS 



OF 



AMERICAN HEROES. 



CHAPTER 1—1775. 



BATTLE OF LEXIISTGTOK 

A considerable quantity of military stores liaving 
been deposited at Concord, eighteen miles from Bos- 
ton, General Gage, who commanded the British 
troops in that city, determined to destroy them. In 
pursuance of his design, he, on the evening of the 
18th of April, 1775, dispatched a party of 800 
grenadiers and light infantry nnder Lieutenant- 
Colonel Smith, who crossed Charles river from the 
foot of Boston common to Phips' farm in Cam- 
bridge, about eleven o'clock at night, and com- 
menced a quick but silent march for Concord. 
Though they attempted to preserve secrecy, yet 



18 DAKINGDEEDS 

the friends of liberty were too vigilant not to notice 
their departure, and many messengers were imme- 
diately sent to alarm the country. Of these, Colonel 
Revere, Mr. Dawes, and three or four others of 
the most active, fell into the hands of a party of 
British officers, who kept them as prisoners for a 
time, but, becoming alarmed at the firing of a 
party of militia at drill near Lexitgton meeting- 
house, they t:^ok the horses from their captives and 
rode off. The following account of the battle is 
given by one of the most celebrated orators of Kew 
England. 

" The 'Committee of Safety had set the preceding 
day at "West Cambridge ; and three of its respected 
members, Gerry, Lee, and Orne, had retired to 
sleep, in the public house, where the session of the 
committee was held. So difficult was it, notwith- 
standing all that had passed, to realize that a state 
of things could exist, between England and Amer- 
ica, in which American citizens should be liable to 
be torn from their beds by an armed force at mid- 
night, that the members of the Committee of Safety, 
though forewarned of the approach of the ^British 
troops, did not even think it necessary to retire 
from their lodgings. On the contrary, they rose 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 19 

from their beds and went to their windows to gaze 
on the nnwonted sight, the midnight march of armies 
through the peaceful hamlets of l^ew England. 
Half the column had already passed, when a flank 
guard was promptly ^ietached te search the public 
house, no doubt in the design of arresting the 
members of the Committee of Safety, who might 
be there. It was only at this last critical moment 
that Mr. Gerry and his friends bethought them- 
selves of flight, and without time even to clothe 
themselves, escaped naked into the fields. 

"By this time Colonel Smith, who commanded 
the expedition, appears to have been alarmed at 
the indications of a general rising throughout the 
country. The light infantry companies were noAV 
detached and placed under the command of Major 
Pitcairne, for the purpose of hastening foi-ward, to 
secm-e the bridges at Concord ; and thus cut off the 
communication between this place and the towns 
north and west of it. Before these companies could 
reach Lexington, the officers already mentioned, who 
had arrested Colonel Eevere, joined their advancing 
countrymen, and reported- that ^ve hundred men 
were drawn up in Lexington, to resist the king's 
troops. On receiving this exaggerated account, the 



20 DARING DEEDS 

Britisli liglit infantry was halted, to give time for 
the grenadiers to come np, that the whole together 
might move forward to the work of death. 
, "The company assembled on Lexington green, 
which the British officers, in their report, had 
swelled to five hundred, consisted of sixty or seventy 
of the militia of the place. Information had been 
received about nightfall, both by j)rivate means and 
by communications from the Committee of Safety, 
that a strong party of officers had been seen on the 
road, directing their course toward Lexington. In 
consequence of this intelligence, a body of about 
thirty of the militia, well armed, assembled early 
in the evening ; a guard of eight men under Colonel 
"William Munroe, then a sergeant in the company, 
was stationed at the house of the Kev. Mr. Clark ; 
and three men were sent off to give the alarm at 
Concord. These three messengers were however 
stopped on their way, as has been mentioned, by the 
British officers, who had already passed onward. 
One of their number, Elijah Sanderson, has lately 
died at Salem at an advanced age. A little afte^' 
midnight, Messrs. Revere and Dawes arrived with 
the certain information that a very large body of the 



F A ?,I K R T C A. X II E K O E S . 21 

royiil troops was in motion. The alarm was now 
generally given to the inhabitants of Lexington, mes- 
sengers were sent down the road to ascertain the 
movements of the troops, and the militia company 
mider Captain John Parker appeared on the green 
to the number of one hundred and thirty. The roll 
was duly called at this perilous midnight muster, and 
some answered to their names for the last time on 
earth. The company was now ordered to load with 
powder and ball, and awaited in anxious expectation 
the return of those who had been sent to reconnoiter 
the enemy. One of them, in consequence of some 
misinformation, retui'ned and reported that there was 
no appearance of troops on the road from Boston. 
Under this harassing uncertainty and contradiction, 
the militia were dismissed, to await the return of the 
other expresses, and with orders to be in readiness 
at the beat of the drum. One of these messengers 
was made prisoner by the British, whose march was 
so cautious, that they remained undiscovered tiL 
within a mile and a half of Lexington meeting- 
house, and time was scarce left for the last messenger 
to return with the tidings of their approach. 
'•The new alarm was now given; the bell rings, 



22 NOBLE DEEDS 

alarm-guns are fired, the driim beats to arms. Some 
of tlie militia had gone home, when dismissed ; but 
the greater part were in the neighboring houses, 
and instantly obeyed the summons. Sixty or seventy 
appeared on the green and were drawn up in double 
ranks. At this moment the British column of eight 
hundred gleaming bayonets appears, headed by theii 
mounted commanders, their banners flying and 
drums beating a charge. To engage them with a 
handful of militia of course was madness, — to fly 
at the sight of them they disdained. The British 
troops rush furiously on ; their commanders, with 
mingled threats and execrations, bid the Americans 
lay down their arms and disperse, and their own 
troops to fire. A moment's delay, as of compunc- 
tion, follows. The order with vehement impreca- 
tions is repeated, and they fire. 'No one falls, and 
the band of self-devoted heroes, most of whom had 
never seen such a body of troops before, stand 
firm in the front of an army, outnumbering them 
ten to one. Another volley succeeds ; the killed and 
wounded drop, and it was not till they had returned 
the fire of the overwhelming force that the militia 
were driven from the field. A scattered fire n©w 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 23 

succeeded on both sides, wliile tlie Americans re- 
mained in siglit; and the British troops were then 
di'awn up on the green to fire a volley and give a 
shout in honor of the victory." 



FIGHT AT COI^COED BKIDGE. 

Elated with its success at Lexington, the British 
army took up its march toward Concord. The in- 
telligence of the projected expedition had been com- 
municated to this town by Dr. Samuel Prescott; 
and from Concord had traveled onward in every 
direction. The interval was employed in removing 
a portion of the public stores to the neighboring 
towns, while the aged and infirm, the women and 
children, sought refuge in the surrounding woods. 
About seven o'clock in the morning, the glittering 
arms of the British column were seen advancing on 
the Lincoln road. A body of militia, from one hun- 
dred and fifty to two hundred men, who had taken 
post for observation on the heights above the en- 
trance to the town, retire at the approach of the 



M DARING DEEDS 

army of the enemy, first to tLe hill a little farthei 
north, and then beyond the bridge. The British 
troops press forward into the town, and are drawn 
vip in front of the court-house. Parties are theB 
ordered out to the various spots where the publis 
stores and arms were supposed to be deposited 
Much had been removed to places of safety, and 
something was saved by the prompt and innocent 
artifices of individuals. The destruction of property 
and of arms was hasty and incomplete, and con 
sidered as the object of an enterprise of such fata] 
consequences, it stands in shocking contrast with 
the waste of blood by which it was effected. 

It was the first care of the British commandei 
to cut off the approach of the Americans from the 
neighboring towns, by destroying or occupying tht 
bridges. A party was immediately sent to tht 
south bridge and tore it up. A force of six com 
panics, under Captains. Parsons and Lowrie, was 
sent to the north bridge. Three companies undei 
Captain Lowrie were left to guard it, and three 
under Captain Parsons proceeded to Colonel Bar- 
rett's house, in search of provincial stores. While 
they were engaged on that errand, the militia of 
Concord, joined l)y their brave brethren from the 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 25 

neigliboring towns, gathered on the liill opposite 
the north bridge, under the command of Colonel 
Robinson and Major Buttrick. The British cbmpa- 
nies at the bridge were now apparently bewildered 
with the perils of their situation, and began to tear 
lip the planks of the bridge ; not remembering that 
this would expose their own party, then at Colonel 
Barrett's, to certain and entire destruction. The 
Americans, on the other hand, resolved to keep 
up the communication with the town, and perceiv- 
ing the attempt which was made to destroy the 
bridge, were immediately put in fiaotion, with or- 
ders not to give the first fire. They drew near to 
the bridge, the Acton company in front, led on by 
the gallant Davis. Three alarm-guns were fired 
into the water, by the British, without arresting the 
march of the citizens. The signal for a general 
discharge is then made ; a British soldier steps from 
the ranks, and fires at Major Buttrick. The ball 
passed between his arm and his side, and slightly 
wounded Mr. Luther Blanchard, who stood near 
him. A volley instantly followed, and Captain 
Davis was shot through the heart, gallantly march- 
ing at the head of the Acton militia against the 
. choice troops of the British line. A. private of his 



26 DAKTNGDEEDS 

company, Mr. Hosmer, of Acton, also fell at liis 
side. A general action now ensued, wliicli termi- 
nated In the reti-eat of the British party, after the 
loss of several killed and wonnded, toward the 
center of the town, followed by the brave band who 
had driven them from their post. The advance 
party of British at Colonel Barrett's was thns left 
to its fate ; and nothing would have been more easy 
than to effect its entire destruction. 

It was now twelve hours since the first alarm had 
been given, the evening before, of the meditated 
expedition. The swift watches of that eventful night 
had scattered the tidings far and wide ; and widely 
as they spread, the people rose in their strength. 
The genius of America, on this the morning of her 
emancipation, had sounded her horn over the plains 
and upon the mountains ; and the indignant yeo- 
manry of the land, armed with the weapons which 
had done service in their fathers' hands, poured 
to the spot where this new and strange tragedy was 
acting. 

"With the British it was a question no longer of 
protracted contest, nor even of halting long enough 
to rest their exhausted troops, after a weary night's 
march, and all the labor, confusion, and distress 



OF AMEKICAN HEKOES. 27 

of the day's efforts. Tlieir dead were hastily buried 
in the public square ; their wounded placed in the 
vehicles which the town afforded ; and a fight com- 
menced, to which the annals of warfare will hardly 
afford a parallel. On all the neighboring hills were 
multitudes from the surrounding country, of the un- 
armed and infirm, of women and of children, who 
had fled from the terrors and the perils of the 
plunder and conflagration of their homes ; or were 
collected, with fearful curiosity, to mark the pro- 
gress of this storm of war. The panic fears of a 
calamitous flight, on the part of the British, trans- 
formed this inoffensive, timid throng into a threat- 
ening array of armed men ; and there was too much 
reason for the misconception. Every height of 
ground, within reach of the line of march, was cov- 
ered with the indignant avengers of their slaughtered 
brethren. The British light companies were sent 
out to great distances as flanking parties ; but who 
was to flank the flankers ? Every patch of trees, 
every rock, every stream of water, every building, 
every stone wall was lined^ with an unintermitted 
fire. Every cross-road opened a new avenue to tho 
assailants. Through one of these the gallant Brooks 
led up the minute-men of Reading. At another 



28 DARING DEEDS 

defile they were encountered by tlie Lexington 
militia under Captain Parker, who, undismayed at 
the loss of more than a tenth of their number in 
killed and wounded in the morning, had returned 
to the conflict. At first the contest was kept up 
by the British with all the skill and valor of vet- 
eran troops. To a military eye it was not an un- 
equal contest. The commander was not, or ought 
not to have been taken by surj^rise. Eight hundred 
picked men, grenadiers and light infantry, from the 
English army, were no doubt considered by General 
Gage a very ample detachment to march eighteen 
or twenty miles through an open country : -and a 
very fair match for all the resistance which could 
be made by unprepared husbandmen, without con- 
cert, discipline, or leaders. " "We attempted," says 
a British officer already quoted, "to stop the men 
and form them two deep, but to no purpose ; the 
confusion rather increased than lessened." An En- 
glish historian says, the British soldiers were driven 
before the Americans like sheep ; till, by a last 
desperate efibrt, the officers succeeded in forcing 
their way to the front, " vrhen they presented their 
swords and bayonets against the breasts of their 
own men, and tohl them, if tliey advanced they 



OF AMEKICAN HEROES. 29 

ehoTild die." Upon this they began to form, undei 
what the same British officer pronounces "a very 
heavy fire," which muse soon have led to the destruc- 
tion or capture of the whole corps. At this critical 
moment a reinforcement arrived. Colonel Smith had 
sent back a messenger from Lexington to apprise 
General Gage of the check he had there received, 
and of the alarm which was running through the 
country. Three regiments of infantry and two di- 
visions of marines with two field-pieces, under the 
command of Brigadier-General Lord Percy, were 
accordingly detached. They marched out of JBos- 
ton, through Roxbury and Cambridge,. and came up 
with the flying party, in the hour of their extreme 
peril. "While their field-pieces kept the Americans 
at bay, the reinforcement drew up in a hollow 
square, into which, says the British historian, they 
received the exhausted fugitives, " who lay down on 
the ground, with their tongues hanging from their 
mouths, like dogs after a chase." 

A half hour was given to rest ; the march was 
then resumed ; and under cover of the field-pieces, 
every house in Lexington, and on the road down- 
wards, was plundered and set on fire. Though the 
flam-QS in most cases were speedily extiuguished, 



30 BAKING DEEDS 

several houses were destroyed. Notwithstanding 
the attention of a great part of the Americans was 
thus drawn off, and although the British force was 
now more than doubled, their retreat still wore the 
aspect of a flight. The Americans filled the heights 
that overhung the road, and at every defile the 
struggle was sliar]3 and bloody. At West Cam- 
bridge, the gallant Warren, never distant when 
danger was to be braved, appeared in the field, and 
a musket-ball soon cut off a lock of hair from his 
temple. General Heath was with him, nor does 
there appear till this moment, to have been any 
effective command among the American forces. 

Below "West Cambridge, the militia from Dor- 
chester, Roxbury, and Brookline came up. The 
British field-pieces began to lose their terror. A 
sharp skirmish followed, and many fell on both 
sides. Indignation and outraged humanity struggled 
on the one hand, veteran discipline and desperation 
on the other; and the contest, in more than one 
instance, was man to man, and bayonet to bayonet. 

The British officers were compelled to descend from 
their horses to escape the certain destruction which 
attended their exposed situation. The wounded to 
the number of two hundred, now presented thf* 



OF AMERICAN H E K O E S . 31 

most distressing and constantly increasing obstruc- 
tion to the progress of the march. l!^ear one hundred 
brave men had fallen in this disastrous flight; a 
considerable number had been made prisoners ; a 
round or two of ammunition only remained ; and it 
was not till late in the evening, nearly twenty-four 
hours from the time when the first detachment 
was put in motion, that the exhausted remnant 
reached the heights of Charlestown. The boats of 
the vessels of war were immediately employed to 
transport the wounded ; the remaining British troops 
in Boston came over to Charlestown to protect their 
weary countrymen dming the night ; and before the 
close of the next day the royal army was formally 
besieged in Boston. 



BATTLE OF BUI^KEE HILL. 

The following full and correct account of the 
battle of Bunker Hill, is taken from a pamphlet 
published in Boston, June 17, 1825. 

After the afi'air of Lexino-ton and Concord, on the 



32 DARINGDEEDS 

19tli of April, 1Y75, tlie people, animated by one 
common impulse, flew to arms in every direction. 
The husbandman changed his plough-share for a 
musket ; and about 15,000 men, 10,000 from Mass- 
achusetts, and the remainder from 'New Hampshire, 
Rhode Island, and Connecticut, assembled under 
General "Ward in the environs of Boston, then 
occupied by 10,000 highly disciplined and well 
equipped British troops, under the command of Gene- 
rals Gage, Howe, Clinton, Burgoyne, Pigot, and 
others. 

Fearing an intention, on the part of the British, 
to occupy the important heights at Charlestown and 
Dorchester, which would enable them to command 
the surrounding country. Colonel Prescott was de- 
tached, by his own desire, from the American camp 
at Cambridge, on the evening of the 16th of June, 
1Y75, with about 1000 militia, mostly of Massachu- 
setts, including 120 men of Putnam's regiment from 
Connecticut, and one artillery company, to Bunker 
Hill, with a view to occupy and fortify that post 
At this hill the detachment made a short halt, but 
concluded to advance still nearer the British, and 
accordingly took possession of Breed's Hill, a posi- 
tion which commanded the whole inner harbor of 



OF AMEKICAN HEEOES. 33 

/Boston. Here, about midniglit, they commenced 
throwing np a redout, which they completed, not- 
withstanding every possible effort from the British 
ships and batteries to prevent them, about noon the 
next day. 

So silently had the operations been conducted 
through the night, that the British had not the most 
distant notice of the design of the Americans, imtil 
day-break presented to their view the half-formed 
battery and daring stand made against them; A 
dreadful cannonade, accompanied with shells, was 
immediately commenced from the British battery at 
Copps' Hill, and the ships of war and floating bat- 
teries stationed in Charles River. 

The break of day, on the 17th of June, 1775, 
presented a scene, which for daring and firmness 
could never be surpassed ; 1000 unexperienced 
militia, in the attire of their various avocations, 
without discipline, almost without artillery and bayo- 
nets, scantil} supplied with ammunition, and wholly 
destitute of provisions, defying the |)ower of the 
formidable British fleet and army, determined to 
maintain the liberty of their soil, or moisten that 
soil with their blood. ^4.. 



34 DAKING DEEDa 

The fire from the Glasgow frigate and two float- 
ing batteries in Charles Eiver, were wliolly directed 
with a view to prevent any communication across 
the isthmus that connects Charlestown with the main 
land, which kept up a continued shower of missiles, 
and rendered the communication truly dangerous to 
those who should attempt it. When the intention 
of the British to attack the heights of Charlestown 
became apparent, the remainder of Putnam's regi- 
ment. Col. Gardiner's regiment, (both of which, as 
to numbers, were very imperfect,) and some 'New 
Hampshire militia, marched, notwithstanding the 
heavy fire, across the neck, for Charlestown heights, 
where they arrived, much fatigued, just after the 
British had moved to the first attack. 

The British commenced crossing the troops from 
Boston about 13 o'clock, and landed at Morton's 
Point, S. E. from Breed's Hill. At 2 o'clock, from 
the best accounts that can be obtained, they landed 
between 3000 and 4000 men, mider the immediate 
command of Gen. Hovfe, and formed, in apparently 
invincible order, at the base of the hill. 

The position of the Americans, at this time, was 
a redout on the summit of the heights, of about 
eight rods square, and a breast-work extending on 



OF AMEEIUAN HEROES. 35 

tLo Ictl yf it, about seventy feet down tlie eastern 
declivity of the liill. This redout and breast-work 
w^as commanded by Prescott in person, who had 
superintended its construction, and who occupied it 
with the Massachusetts militia of his detachment, 
and a part of Little's regiment, which had arrived 
about one o'clock. They were very deficient in 
equipments and ammunition, had been toiling in- 
cessantly for many hours, and it is said by some 
accounts, even then were destitute of provisions. A 
little to the eastward of the redout, and northerly 
to the rear of it, was a rail-fence, extending almost 
to Mystick River; to this fence another had been 
added during the night and forenoon, and some 
newly mown grass thrown against them, to aiFord 
something like a cover to the troops. At this fence 
the 120 Connecticut militia were posted. 

The movements of the British made it evident 
their intention was to march a strong column along 
the margin of the Mystick, and turn the redout on 
the north, while another column attacked it in front ; 
accordingly, to prevent this design, a large force 
became necessary at the breast-work and rail-fence. 
The whole of the re-enforcements that arrived, 
amomitincr in all to 800 or 1000 men, were ordered 



36 DARING DEEDS 

to tliis point by General Putnam, who had been 
extremely active throughout the night and morning, 
and had accompanied the expedition. 

Before 3 o'clock the British formed, in two col- 
umns, for the attack; one column, as had been 
anticipated, moved along the Mystick River, with 
the intention of taking the redoubt in the rear, while 
the other advanced up the ascent directly in front 
of the redoubt, where Prescott was ready to receive 
them. General Warren, President of the Provincial 
Congress and of the Committee of Safety, who had 
been appointed but a few days before a major-general 
of the Massachusetts troops, had volunteered on the 
occasion as a private soldier, and was in the redoubt 
with a musket, animating the men by his influence 
and example to the most daring determination. 

Orders were given to the Americans to reserve 
their fire till the enemy advanced sufliciently near 
to make their aim certain. Several volleys were 
fired by the British with but little success ; and so 
long a time had elapsed, and the British allowed 
to advance so near the Americans without their 
fire being returned, that a doubt arose whether or 
not the latter intended to give battle; but the 
fa.tal moment soon arrived: when the British liad 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 37 

advanced to within about eight rods, a sheet of 
fire was poured ujDon them and continued a short 
time with such deadly effect that hundreds of the 
assailants lay weltering in their blood, and the 
remainder retreated in dismay to the point where 
they had first landed. 

From daylight to the time of the British advan- 
cing on the works, an incessant fire had been kept 
up on the Americans from the ships and batteries— 
this fire was now renewed with increased vigor. 

After a short time, the British oflficers had sue 
ceeded in rallying their men, and again advanced, 
in the same order as before, to the attack. Thinking 
to divert the attention of the Americans, the town 
of Charlestown, consisting of 500 wooden buildings, 
was now set on fire by the British ; the roar of the 
flames, the crashing of falling timber, the awful 
appearance of desolation presented, the dreadful 
shrieks of the dying and wounded in the last attack, 
added to the knowledge of the formidable force 
advancing against them, combined to form a scene 
apparently too much for men bred in the quiet 
retirement of domestic life to sustain. But the 
stillness of death reigned within the American 
works, and nought could be seen but the deadly 



38 DARING DEEDS 

presented weapon, ready to hurl fresh destruction 
on the assailants. The fire of the Americans was 
again reserved till the British came still nearer than 
before, when the same unerring aim was taken, and 
the British shrunk, terrified, from before its fatal 
efiects, flying, comj)letely routed, a second time to 
the banks of the river, and leaving, as before, the 
field strewed with their wounded and their dead. 

Again the ships and batteries renewed their fire, 
and kept a continual shower of balls on the works. 
Notwithstanding every exertion, the British ofiicers 
found it impossible to rally the men for a third 
attack ; one third of their comrades had fallen ; and 
finally it was not till a re-enforcement of more than 
1000 fresh troops, with a strong park of artillery, 
had joined them from Boston, that they could be 
induced to form anew. 

In the meantime every effort was made on the 
part of the Americans, to resist a third attack ; Gen. 
Putnam rode, notwithstanding the heavy fire of the 
ships and batteries, several times across the neck, 
to induce the iiilitia to advance; but it was only 
a few of the resok^ and brave who would encounter 
the storm. The British receiving re-enforcements 
from their formidable main body — the town of 



OFAMERICAN HEROES. 39 

Charlestown presenting one wide scene of destruc- 
tion — the probability the Americans must shortly 
retreat — the shower of balls pouring over the 
neck — presented obstacles too apj)alling for raw 
troops to sustain, and embodied too much danger 
to allow them to encounter. Yet, notwithstanding 
all this, the Americans on the heights were elated 
with their success, and waited with coolness and 
determination the now formidable advance of the 
enemy. 

Once more the British, aided by their re-enforce- 
ments, advanced to the attack, but with great skill 
and caution; their artillery was planted on the 
eastern declivity of the hill, between the rail-fence 
and the breast-work, where it was directed along 
the line of the Americans, stationed at the latter 
place, and against the gateway on the north-eastern 
corner of the redoubt ; at the same time they attacked 
the redoubt on the south-eastern and south-western 
sides, and entered it with fixed ba^^onets. The 
slaughter on their advancing was great; but the 
Americans, not having bayonets to meet them on 
equal terms, and their powder being exhausted, 
now slowly retreated, opposing and extricating them- 
selves from the British with the butts of their 
pieces. 



40 DARING DEEDS , 

Tlie column that advanced against the rail-fence 
was received in the most dauntless manner. The 
Americans fought with spirit and heroism that could 
not be surpassed, and had their ammunition held 
out, would have secured to themselves a third time 
the ]3alm of victory ; as it was, they effectually pre- 
vented the enemy from accomplishing his purpose, 
which was to turn their flank, and cut the whole 
of the Americans off; but having become perfectly 
exhausted, this body of the Americans also slowly 
retired, retreating in much better order than could 
possibly have been expected from undisciplined 
troops, and those in the redoubt having extricated 
themselves from the host of bayonets by which they 
had been surrounded. 

The British followed the Americans to Bunker 
Hill, but some fresh militia at this moment coming 
up to the aid of the latter, covered their retreat. 
The Americans crossed Charlestown ]^eck about 7 
o'clock, having in the last twenty hours performed 
deeds which seemed almost impossible. Some of 
them proceeded to Cambridge, and others posted 
themselves quietly on Winter and Prospect Hills. 

From the most accurate statements that can be 
found, it appears the Britisli must have liad nearlv 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 41 

5000 soldiers in the battle ; between 3000 and 4000 
having first landed, and the re-enforcement amount- 
ing to over 1000. The Americans, throughout the 
whole day, did not have 2000 men on the field. 

The slaughter on the side of the British was im- 
mense, having had nearly 1500 killed and wounded, 
1200 of whom were either killed or mortally 
wounded; the Americans about 400. 

The name of the first martyr that gave his life 
for the good of his country on that day, in the 
importance of the moment was lost; else a mon- 
ument, in connection with the gallant Warren, 
should be raised to his memory. The manner of 
his death was thus related by Col. Prescott. " The 
first man who fell in the battle of Bunker Hill, was 
killed by a cannon ball which struck his head. He 
was so near me that my clothes were besmeared 
with his blood and brains, which I wiped ofi', in 
some degree, with a handful of fresh earth. The 
sight was so shocking to many of the men, that 
they left their posts and ran to view him. T ordered 
them back, but in vain. I then ordered him to 
be buried instantly. A subaltern officer expressed 
surprise that I should allow him to be buried with- 
out having prayers said ; I replied, this is the first 



4:2 DARING DEEDS 

man that has been killed, and the only one that 
will be buried to-daj. I put him out of sight that 
the men may be kept in their places. God only 
knows who, or how many of us, will fall before it 
is over. To your post, my good fellow, and let each- 
man do his duty." 

The name of the patriot who thus fell is supposed 
to have been Pollard, a young man belonging to 
Billerica. He was struck by a cannon ball, thrown 
'I'om the line-of-battle ship Somerset. 



TAKING OF TICONDEROGA BY COL. ALLEN. 

The seizure of the important fortress of Ticon- 
deroga, by Col. Ethan Allen, on the 10th of May, 
17T5, is thus related by himself: — 

"The first systematical and bloody attempt at 
Lexingtpn, to enslave America, thoroughly electrified 
my mind, and fully determined me to take a part 
with my country. And while I was wishing for 
an opportunity to signalize myself in its behalf, 
directions were privately sent to me from the then 



O F A M E R tC A N H E R E S . 43 

colony, now state of Connecticnt, to raise tlie Green 
Mountain Boys, and, 'f possible, with them to sur- 
prise and take the fortress of Ticonderoga. This 
enterprise I cheeriullj undertook ; and after first 
guarding all the several passes that led thither, to 
cut off all intelligence between the garrison and the 
country, made a forced march from Bennington, 
and arrived at the lake opposite Ticonderoga, on 
the evening of the 9th day of May, 1T75, with 
two hundred and thirty valiant Green Mountain 
Boys ; and it was with the utmost difficulty that I 
procured boats to cross the lake. However, I landed 
eighty-three men near the garrison, and sent the 
boats back for the rear guard, commanded by Col. 
Seth Warner ; but the day' began to dawn, and 1 
found myself necessitated to attack the fort before 
the rear could cross the lake ; and as it was ha- 
zardous, I harangued the officers and soldiers in the 
manner following : ' Friends and fellow soldiers, — 
You have, for a number of years past, been a scourge 
and terror to arbitrary powers. Your valor has been, 
famed abroad, and acknowledged, as appears by the 
advice and orders to me from the General Assembly 
of Connecticut, to sm'j)rise and take the garrison 
now before us. I now propose to advance before 



44 DARING DEEDS 

you, and in person conduct you througli the wicket 
gate ; for we must this morning either quit our 
pretensions to valor, or possess ourselves of this 
fortress in a few minutes ; and inasmuch as it is a 
desperate attempt, which none but the bravest of 
men dare undertake, I do not urge it on any 
contrary to his wid. You that will undertake 
voluntarily, poise yom- firelocks.' The men being 
at this time drawn up in three ranks, each poised 
his firelock. I ordered them to face to the right ; 
and at the head of the center file, marched them 
immediately to the wicket gate aforesaid, where I 
found a sentry posted, who instantly snapped his 
fusee at me. I ran immediately toward him, and 
he retreated through the covered way into the 
parade within the garrison, gave a halloo, and ran 
under bomb proof. My party, who followed me 
mto the fort, I formed on the parade in such a 
manner as to face the barracks which faced each 
other. The garrison being asleep, except the sen- 
tries, we gave three huzzas, which greatly surprised 
them. One of the sentries made a pass at one of 
m}^ officers with a charged bayonet, and slightly 
wounded him. Mj first thought was to kill him 
with my sword, but in an instant I altei-ed tlie 



O F A M E R I C A N H E fe O E S . 45 

design and fury of tlie blow, to a slight cut on tlie 
side of the head ; upon which he drojjped his gun 
and asked quarter, which I readily granted him ; 
and demanded the place where the commanding 
officer slept. He showed me a pair of stairs in the 
front, which led up to a second story in the barracks, 
to which I immediately repaired, and ordered the 
commander, Capt. Delaplace, to come forth instantly, 
or I would sacrifice the whole garrison ; at which 
time the captain came immediately to the door 
with his breeches in his liand, when I ordered him 
to deliver to me the fort instantly ; he asked me 
by what authority I demanded it. I answered him, 
' In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Con- 
tinental Congress? The authority of congress being 
very little known at that time, he began to speak 
again, but I interrupted him, and with my drawn 
feword near my head, again demanded an immediate 
surrender of the garrison ; with wliich he then com- 
plied, and ordered his men to be forthwith paraded 
without arms, as h-e had given up the garrison. 



PATRIOTIC FATHER. 

When tlie news of a skirmish at Lexington 
reached Barnstable, a company of militia immedi- 
ately assembled and marched off to Cambridge. In 
the front rank, there was a young man, the son of 
a respectable farmer, and his only child. In march 
ing from the village as they passed his house, he 
came out to meet them. There was a momentary 
halt. The drum and fife paused for an instant. 
The father, suppressing a strong and evident emotion, 
said, " God be with you all, my friends ! and, John, 
if you, my son, are called into battle, take care that 
you behave manfully, or else let me never see your 
face again." A tear started into every eye, and 
the march was resumed. 



AEISrOLD'S MAECH THEOUGH THE 
WILDEENESS. 

About the same time that Canada was invaded 
bj the usual route from "New York, a considerable 
detachment of the American army was brought 
thither by a new and unexpected j)assage. Arnold, 
who conducted this bold undertaking, acquired 
thereby the name of the American Hannibal. He 
was sent, by General Washington, with a thousand 
men, from Cambridge, with orders to penetrate into 
that province, by ascending the Kennebec, and then, 
after crossing the mountains which divide Canada 
from Maine, by descending the Chaudiere to the 
St. Lawrence. Great were the difficulties, and 
severe the privations, they had to encounter, in 
marching 300 miles, by an unexplored way, through 
an uninhabited country. In ascending the Kenne- 
bec, they were constantly obliged to struggle against 
an impetuous current ; and were often compelled, 
by cataracts, to land, and haul their batteaux up 
rapid streams, and over falls of rivers. They had 



48 DARINGDEEDS 

to contend with swamps, woods, and craggy 
mountains. At some places, tliej had to cut their 
way for miles together, through forests, so embar 
rassed, that their progress was only four or five miles 
a day. One third of their number were, from sick- 
ness and want of food, obliged to return. Prcrls'ons 
grew at length so scarce, that some of the men ate 
their dogs, cartouch boxes, leather s^all clothes, and 
shoes. Still they proceeded with unabated fortitude. 
They gloried in the hope of completing a march 
which would rival the greatest exploits of antiquity ; 
and on the 3d of ISTovember, af!:er thirty -one days 
spent in traversing a hideous desert, they reached 
the inhabited part of Canada, where the people 
were struck with amazement and admiration when 
tliey saw this armed force emerging from the 
wilderness. 



DEATH OF GEKEKAL MONTGOMERY. 

Richard Montgomery, a Major-General in the 
army of the United States, was born in the north of 
Ireland, in tlic year 1737. He possessed an excel- 
lent genius, which was matured by a fine education. 
Entering the army of Great Britain, he successfully 
fought her battles with Wolfe, at Quebec, in 1759, 
on the very spot where he was doomed to fall, when 
fio^htino; asrainst her, under the banners of freedom. 
After his return to England, he quitted his regiment, 
in 1772, though in a fair way of preferment. He 
had imbibed an attachment to America, viewing it 
as the risincr seat of arts and freedom. After his 
arrival in this country, he purchased an estate in 
New York, about a hundred miles from the city, 
and married a daugljter of Judge Livingston. He 
now considered himself as an American. When the 
struggle with Great Britain commenced, as he was 
known to have an ardent attachment to liberty, and 
had expressed his readiness ti. /.rau^ his sword on 



50 DARING DEEDS 

tlie side of the colonies, the command of the conti- 
nental forces, in the northern department, was 
intrusted to him and Gen. Schuyler, in the fall 
of 1775. 

By the indisposition of Schuyler, the chief com- 
mand devolved upon him in October. He reduced 
fort Chamblee, and on the third of ]^ovember 
captured St. Johns. On the 12th, he took MontreaL 
In December he joined Col. Arnold, and marched 
to Quebec. The city was besieged, and on the last 
day of the year it was determined to make an 
assault. The several divisions were accordingly put 
in motion, in the midst of a heavy fall of snow, 
which concealed them from the enemy. Mont- 
gomery advanced at the head of the Xew York 
troops along the St. Lawi^ence, and having assisted 
with his own hands in pulling up the pickets, which 
obstructed his approach to one of the barriers he 
was determined to force, he was pushing forward, 
when one of the guns from the battery was dis- 
charged, and he was killed with his two aids. This 
was the only gun fired, for the enemy had been 
struck with consternation, and all but one or two 
had fled. But this event probably prevented the 
capture of Quebec. When he fell, Montgomery 



OF A :M ERIC AX HEROES. 51 

was in a narrow passage, and his body rolled upon 
tlie ice, wliich formed by the side of the river. 
After it was found the next mornino' aniono; the 
slain, it was buried by a few soldiers, without any 
marks of distinction. He was thirty-eight years of 
age. He was a man of great military talents, 
whose measures were taken with judgment, and 
executed with vigor. "With undisciplined troops, 
who were jealous of him in the extreme, he yet 
inspired them with his own enthusiasm. He shared 
with them in all their hardships, and thus pre- 
vented their complaints. His industry could not 
be wearied, his vigilance imposed upon, nor his 
courao-e intimidated. 

To express the high sense entertained by his 
country of his services, Congress directed that a 
monument of white marble, to his memory, should 
be placed in front of St. Paul's Church, IS'ew York. 

The remains of Gen. Montgomery, after resting 
forty-two years at Quebec, by a resolve of the 
State of Xew York, were brought to the city of 
ISTew York, on the Sth of July, ISIT^ and deposited, 
with ample form and grateful ceremonies, near the 
aforesaid monument in St. Paul's Church. 



WASHraGTO]^, COMMANDEE IN CHIEF 
OF THE AMERICAlSr AEMY. 

la May, 1Y75, Congress met pursuant to adjourn- 
ment. Hostilities having commenced, it was a point 
of vital importance to the American cause, to select 
a proper person for Commander in Chief of the 
American forces. 

George Washington, a delegate from Yirginia, 
was by the unanimous voice of Congress, appointed, 
to fill this important station, on the 15th of June, 17 Y5, 
"To Washington's experience in military affairs are 
united sound judgment, extensive knowledge of men, 
perfect probity, pure morals, a grave deportment, 
indefatigable industry, easy manners, strict polite- 
ness, a commanding person, cool bravery, unshaken 
fortitude, and a prudence that bafiled and con- 
founded his enemies." 

Soon after his appointment. General Washington 
repaired to the army, who were besieging Boston ; 
he was received with profound respect and joyful 
acclamations by the American ariyy. 








,V-^ 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 53 

The Americans hsiving so closely invested Boston, 
the British Commander judged it prudent to evac- 
uate the town, which they did on the 17th of 
March, 1776, taking with them 1500 of the inha- 
bitants, who dared not stay on accoimt of their 
attachment to the British cause. 

General Washington immediately entered the 
town, to the great joy of the inhabitants. 



ELBRIDGE GEREY. 

It was during the march of the English force to 

Concord, through Cambridge, when the Committee 

of Supplies had been in session, that Mr. Gerry, 

and Colonels Lee and Orne, had remained over 

night. They were very near being captured by a 

detachment that surrounded the house in which 

they were lodged. "With much difficulty, however, 

they made their escape to a secure retreat, with 

very little covering beside their night-dresses. There 

they concealed themselves until the danger to which 

they had been exposed had passed by. They then 
3* 



54 BAKING DEEDS 

returned, and spread the alarm among the inha- 
bitants. 

On the night preceding the battle of Bunker's 
Hill, Mr. Gerrj, with his intimate friend General 
Warren, who fell in that engagement, retired to the 
same bed. In the morning they sej)arated with an 
afiectionate farewell, to meet no more in this world. 
Mr. Gerry went, as his duty called him, to attend 
a meetino; of the Consiress in Watertown on that 
day; and "Warren, to meet death on Bunker's 
memorable battle-ground. 



KICHAED HENKY LEE. 

The meeting of the first Congress presented a 
scene, unprecedented in the annals of this or any 
other country. It was new, interesting, and solemn, 
beyond expression. The consequences which might 
result from it were momentous, to a degree which 
the human mind cannot easily comprehend. The 
responsibility was weighty enough to bear down the 
firmest and most resolute. The eyes of three 



OF AMERICAN II E li O E S . 55 

millions of people were intently fixed on them. The 
consequences of their determiniitions would vitally 
affect posterity to the end of time ; and an micer- 
tainty as to each others views, pervaded the whole 
assembly. 

The seals were successively broken, and the in- 
structions of the several delegations disclosed. 
When the last seal was broken by Mr. Henry, a 
universal silence pervaded the house, anxiety was 
visible in every countenance, and a half suppressed 
quiver agitated every lip. At this moment Hichard 
Henry Lee arose, and broke the portentous silence. 
He saw, as by intuition, that the feeling, and the 
crisis^ were such as might be turned to good, or to 
evil, riccording as they might be imj)roved at the 
instant. He addressed the assembly with a voice so 
melodious, a language so pensive, and sentiments 
so enlarged and just, as soothed, though they did 
not suppress the emotions of the meeting; and when 
with the most pleasing and convincing eloquence, 
he d-sclared that there was but one hope for the 
country, and that was in the vigor of her resistance, 
every heart beat in unison with the sentiment, and 
was prepared to enter on the system which should 
render resistance effectual. Then was achieved a 



56 D A E I N G D E E D S 

f riumpli, wliicli began immediately to be felt tlirougli 
the American colonies. 

In tliis Congress, Mr. Lee was j)laced on all the 
most important committees, and associated with the 
most distinguished delegates from the other colonies. 
It cannot be necessary to mention them in detail. 
It was here that the extent and variety of his in- 
formation, were manifested in his extensive influence 
and usefulness. His counsel and advice, were 
sought for by members of committees with which 
he was not connected, respecting their reports, more 
than those of any other member of the house. 
When the first Congress adjourned on the 26th day 
x>f October, ITT-i, the part which Mr. Lee had acted 
in that body, during its session ; the intelligence 
it had displayed; the spirit he had manifested; 
his activity in business ; the straight forward course 
he pm'sued; his devoted patriotism, strict honor, 
and unyielding fidelity; his elegance of manners, 
and his persuasive eloquence ; left an impression on 
the public mind respecting his character, most honor- 
able to his talents, and truly grateful to his feelings. 
It was an impression which any man might desire 
to make, but which few were able to secure. 



CHAPTER. 11—1776. 



ATTACK ON SULLIYAN'S ISLAISTD. 

In the months of June and July, 1776, the British 
commanders, General Clinton and Sir Peter Parker, 
attempted to destroy the fort on Sullivan's island, 
near Charleston, S. C. Their force consisted of 
two fifty gun ships, and four frigates of twenty-eight 
guns each, besides several smaller vessels, with 
3000 troops on board. The fort was commanded 
by Colonel Moultrie, with a garrison of but 375 
regulars, and a few militia. This fort, though not 
entirely finished, was very strong. 

" However, the British generals resolved, without 
hesitation to attack it; but though an attack was 
easy from the sea, it was very difficult to obtain a 
co-operation of the land forces. This was attempted 
by landing them on Long Island, adjacent to Sul- 
livan's Island on the east, from which it is separated 
by a very narrow creek, said to be not above two 
feet deep at low water. 



68 D A K I N t; D t: E D S 

" Oi:)posite to this fort, the Americans had posted 
a strong body of troops, with cannon and intrench- 
ments, while General Lee was posted on the main 
land, Avith a bridge of boats betwixt that and Sul- 
livan's Island, so that he conld at pleasure send 
re-enforcements to the troops in the fort on Sulli- 
van's Island. 

" On the part of the British, so many delays 
occurred, that it was the 24th of June before 
matters were in readiness for an attack ; and by 
this time, the Americans had abundantly provided 
for their reception. On the morning of that day, 
the bomb-ketch began to throw shells into* Tort 
Sullivan, and about mid-day, the two fifty gun 
ships, and thirty gun frigates, came up, and began 
a severe fire. 

"Three other frigates were ordered to take theii 
station between Charleston and the fort, in ordei 
to enfilade the batteries, and cut off the commu- 
nication with the main land ; but, through the 
ignorance of .the pilots, they all stuck fast ; and 
though two of them were disentangled, they were 
found to be totally unfit for service. The third 
w^as burnt, that she might not fall into the liands 
of the Americans. 



OF AMEKICAN HEROES. 50 

"The attack was therefore confined to the five 
armed ships and bomb-ketch, between whom and 
the fort a dreadful fire ensued. The Bristol sufiTered 
excessively ; the springs on her cable being shot 
away, she was for some time entirely exposed to 
the enemy's fire. As the Americans poured in 
great quantities of red hot balls, she was twice 
in flames. Her captain, Mr. Morris, after receiving 
five wounds, was obliged to go below deck, in order 
to have his arm amputated. After undergoing this 
operation, he returned to his place, where he re- 
ceived another wound, but still refused to quit his 
station. At last he received a red hot ball in his 
body, which instantly put an end to his life. 

" Of all the officers and seamen who stood on the 
quarter deck of the Bristol, not one escaped with- 
out a wound, excepting Sir Peter Parker alone : 
whose intrepidity and presence of mind on this 
occasion, were very renaarkable. Thp engagement 
lasted till darkness put an end to it. 

" During the height of the attack, the American 
batteries remained for some time silent, so that it 
was concluded that they had been abandoned ; but 
this was found to proceed only from want of pow- 
der ; for, as soon as a supply of this necessary 



60 DAJRING DEEDS 

article was obtained, the firing was resumed as brisk 
as before. During the whole of this desperate en- 
gagement, it was found impossible for the land 
forces to give the least assistance to the fleet; the 
American works were found to be much stronger 
than they had been imagined, and the depth of 
the water effectually prevented them from making 
any attempt. 

" In this unsuccessful attack, the killed and 
wounded on the part of the British amounted to 
about 200. The Bristol and Experiment were so 
much damaged that it was thought they could not 
have been got over the bar; however, this was at 
last accomplished, by a very great exertion of naval 
skill, to the surprise of the Americans, who had 
expected to make them both j^^'izes. On the 
American side, the loss was judged to have been 
considerable. 



DECLAEATIOK OF IITDEPEKDE:N"CE. 

The American j)eople, exasperated by the pro- 
ceedings of the British government, which placed 
them ont of their ]3rotection, and engaging foreign 
mercenaries to assist in subduing them, began to 
broach the subject of independence from the British 
crown. 

Accordingly, the subject was brought before Con- 
gress , but some of the members of that body being 
absent, they adjourned its consideration to the 1st of 
July. 

They accordingly met, and appointed Thomas 
Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger 
Sherman, and Philip Livingston, to frame the De- 
claration of Independence. They agreed that each 
of their number should draft a declaration, and read 
it next day, in rotation, to the rest. They accord- 
ingly met, and Mr. Jefferson was fixed upon to 
" read first ;" his gave such satisfaction that none 

other was read. Their report was accepted, and 

5 



^»2 DAllING DEEDS 

Congress declared " tlie tlilrteen United States Free 
and ■Indeijendc-nt^'^ July 4tb, 1776. 

This declaration was received by the people with 
transports of joy. Public rejoicings took place in 
various parts of the Union. In New York, the 
statue of George III. was taken down, and the lead 
of which it was composed, was converted into 
musket balls." 



DEATH OF CAPTAm HALE. 

After General Washington, by his retreat, had 
left the British in complete possession of Long 
Island, and not knowing what would be their 
future operations, he applied to General Knowlton, 
commander of a regiment of light infantry, to de- 
vise some means for gaining necessary information 
of the design of the British in their future move- 
ments, CajDtain Hale nobly offered himself for this 
hazardous and important service. His amiable, 
pious, intelligent, and pati-iotic character, and the 
Bacrifice of his life in the manner in which he made 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. G3 

the srvcrifice, entitle him to a distinguished riink 
among the first patriots of the revolution. The par- 
ticulars of this tragical event, sanctioned by General 
Hull, who knew them at the time, are related by 
Miss H. Adams, in her History of ^N'ew England. 
" The retreat of General "Washington, left the 
British in complete possession of Long Island. 
"What would be their future operations remained 
uncertain. To obtain information of their situation, 
their strength, and future movements, was of high 
importance. For this purpose. General "Washington 
applied to Colonel Knowlton, who commanded a 
regiment of light infantry, which formed the van 
of the American army, and desired him to adopt 
some mode of gaining the necessary information. 
Colonel Knowlton communicated this request to 
IN'athan Hale, of Connecticut, who was then a Cap- 
tain in his regiment. This 3^oung officer, animated 
by a sense of duty, and considering that an oppor- 
tunity presented itself by which he might be useful 
to his country, at once offered himself a volunteer 
for this hazardous service. He passed in disguise 
to Long Island, examined every part of the British 
army, and obtained the best possible infoi'mation 
respecting their situation and future operations. 



64 DAEING DEEDS 

"In his attemj^t to retm-n, he was apprehended, 
carried before Sir "William Howe, and the proof 
of his object was so clear, tbat he frankly ack- 
nowledged who he was, and what were his views. 

"Sir "William Howe at once gave an order to 
the provost marshal to execute him the next mor- 
ning. 

"The order was accordingly executed in the most 
unfeeling manner, and by as great a savage as ever 
disgraced humanity. A clergyman, whose atten- 
dance he desired, w^as refused him; a Bible, for a 
moment's devotion, was not procured, though he 
requested it. Letters, which, on the morning of his 
execution, he wrote to his mother and other friends, 
were destroyed ; and this very extraordinary reason 
was given by the provost marshal, ' that the rebels 
should not know that they had a man in their 
army, who could die with so much firmness.' 

" Unknown to all around him, without a single 
friend to ofibr him the least consolation, thus fell 
as amiable and as worthy a young man as Amer- 
ica could boast, with this as his dying observation, 
' that he only lamented he had but one life to lose 
for his country.' " 



BATTLE OF TEENTOIT. 

The summer and fall of 1776 was the most 
gloomy period of the American Revolution. Gene- 
ral Washington had been obliged to retreat from 
Long Island to ]^ew York, thence over the Hudson 
to J^ew Jersey, and through 'New Jersey to Penn- 
sylvania, vigorously pursued by an enemy flushed 
with a series of success. The retreat through 
New Jersey was attended with circumstances of a 
painful and trying nature. "Washington's army, 
which had consisted of 30,000 men, was now dimin- 
ished to scarcely 3000, and these were without sup- 
plies, without pay, and many of them without shoes 
or comfortable clothing. Their footsteps were 
stained with blood as they fled before the enemy. 
The affairs of the Americans seemed in such a des- 
perate condition, that those who had been most 
confident of success, began despairingly to give up 
all for lost. Many Americans joined the British, 
and took protections from them. In this season of 



66 DARING DEEDS 

general despondencj, the American Congress re- 
commended to each of the states to observe " a day 
of solemn fasting and humiliation before God." 

General Washington saw the necessity of making 
a desperate effort for the salvation of his country. 
On the night of the 25th of December, 1Y76, the 
American army recrossed the Delaware, which was 
filled with pieces of floating ice, and marched to 
attack a division of Hessians, who had advanced 
to Trenton. The sun had just risen, as the tents 
of the enemy appeared in sight. 'No time was to 
be lost — Washington, rising on his stirrups, waved 
his sword toward the hostile army, and exclaimed: 

" There, my hrave friends, are the enemies of 
your country ! and noio all I have to ash of yotc 
is, to remeniber what you a.re alout to fight for ! 
March .'"' 

The troops, animated by their commander, pressed 
on to the charge ; the Hessians were taken by sur- 
prise, and the contest was soon decided ; about 1000 
were taken prisoners, and 40 killed, among whom 
was their commander, (a German officer,) Colon ;! 
Rahl. 



,.,,,,,^«::^l|li|llllilrtpi!lf:ii|:^^»\yW^^^^ ^ .,r;p.^, ^ 






'U>ii 




m ri.^ 



liPiir 



.iM? 



t, 



'iriii»i 




CAFTAIK GEOEGE LITTLE. 

Among tlie vessels which were built by the 
State of Massachusetts during the war of the Revo- 
lution, was the sloop Winthrop. She was built in 
the then District of Maine, and for the express 
piu'pose of protecting our coasting trade, which had 
suffered much by the captures, &c., of the enemy. 
She mounted thirteen guns, and was commanded 
by Captain George Little of Mansfield, who had 
been the first Lieutenant, of the staff ship Protec- 
tor, John Foster Williams, Esq., commander, and 
who, in om^ quasi war with France, in 1798, com- 
manded the frigate Boston. His first Lieutenant, 
in the Winthrop, was Edward Preble, of Portland, 
who also had been an ofiicer on board the Protec* 
tor, and w^lio was afterward Commodore Preble. 
The Winthrop was a very fortimate vessel, and more 
than answered the expectations of those who built 
her. She protected the coasting trade, made many 
prizes, and covered herself with glory. Soon after 

sailing on her first cruise, she fell in with two ships 
4 



G8 DAEINGDEEDS 

wliicli made a formidable appearance, but boldly 
rimnrng down npon them, slie capUired them botli. 
They proved to be two stout Britisb Letters of 
Marque, and slie immediately returned with tliem 
to Boston. She made a number of prizes after 
wards, and recaptured some American vessels. 
In one of her cruises, she recaptured a sloop 
belonging to the late William Gray, Esq., which 
had been taken by the British brig Meriam, of 
equal or superior force to the Winthrop, and with 
a prize master and crew on board, w^as ordered 
for Penobscot, to Wifeich place the Meriam herself 
had gone. Captain Little immediately resolved 
upon the daring' plan of cutting her out. Disguising 
his vessel, so as to give her as much as possible 
the appearance of the prize sloop, he entered the 
harbor of Penobscot in the evening; as he passed 
the fort, he was hailed, and ashed what sloop tJiat 
was — he answered, " The Meriam's Prize." It is 
said that the fort had some suspicions of liim, but 
they suffered him to pass. He then ran up toward 
the brig, and as he approached her, Vv^as again 
hailed and gave tlie same answer — " Take care 
(said they on board tlie Meriam) you'll jiin foul 
of us." lie informed them that he liad been ashore 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 69 

on a reef and lost his cables and anchors, and re- 
quested them to throw him a warp, which was 
immediately done. The sloop was then hatded up 
to the brig, and Lieutenant Preble, as had been 
appointed, jmnped on board with a number of men, 
who had their various duties assigned them — while 
some slipped the cables, others made sail, &c. Pre- 
ble himself, with a few followers, entered the cabin, 
.where the officers were just changing their dress 
for the purpose of going on shore. They made some 
attempts to get their arms for defence, but were 
soon subdued. When they were coming out of the 
harbor, the fort fired upon them, but Captain Little 
judged it best not to return the fire — he kept stead- 
ily on his course and when out of reach of their shot, 
triumphantly let off thirteen sky rockets. In the 
same cruise he took two other vessels, one of which 
was a schooner of eight guns, w^hich he had driven 
ashore. He manned out his boats, went on shore, 
made the crew prisoners, and got off the schooner — ■ 
with his four prizes he returned to Boston. The 
^YQi vessels entered the harbor together in fine 
style with a leading breeze; and a gallant show 
they made. 



GENERAL ANDREW PICKENS. 

In September, 1776, General Andrew Pickens, 
being then a Major, belonged to an army of 2000 
men, composed of Regulars and Militia, com- 
manded bj Colonel Williamson, which was sent 
on an expedition against the Cherokees, who had 
been instigated by British emissaries, to wage a 
war of extermination against the frontier inhabitants 
of the conntry, now composing Abbeville, Laurens, 
and Spartanburgh Districts. When this army had 
proceeded into the Indian country, as far as the 
upper part of what is now Pickens District, it was 
halted for a day or two, either for rest or to gain 
intelligence. During this time. Major Pickens ob- 
tained permission to take twenty-five choice men, 
to scout and reconnoiter the adjacent country. He 
had not proceeded more than two miles, when, 
early in the morning, after crossing a stream, now 
called Little River, in passing through an old Indian 
Seld, along the margin of tlie stream, which was 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 71 

covered with a thick grass, four or five feet high, 
more than two hundred Indians, painted for war 
in the most hideous manner, were seen rushing 
down the point of a ridge, directly upon them, 
with their guns swinging in their left hands, and 
their tomahawks raised in their right; their leader 
animating and exhorting them not to fire a gun, 
but to tomahawk the white men, for they were but 
a handful. Brennan, a half-breed, was one of the 
twenty-five, and he, understanding them, told what 
they said. Major Pickens and all his party were 
on foot, and he, as well as every other, had his 
trusty rifle. He ordered his men not to fire until 
he did, to take deliberate aim, and fire two at a 
time in succession, and to fall in the grass and 
load. Brennan was by his side in front, and when 
the Indian chief approached within about twenty- 
five yards, he and Brennan fired, and two Indians 
fell; the fire of his other men was in succession, 
as directed, and equally effective. This invincible 
firmness, in so small a band, astonished and struck 
terror into the savage ranks, and they immediately 
recoiled upon each other, dropped their tomahawks, 
and resorting to their guns, gradually fell back, and 
were picked out at leisure by the steady and 



72 DAKING DEEDS 

unerring aim of this small band of firm Militia 
After the first or second fire, Brennan was sho* 
down. Bnt few were killed or wounded of the 
whites ; if they had not been brave men, and true, 
not one would have escaped. Major Pickens, in 
loading in a hurry, soon choaked his gun, when he 
picked up Brennan's and continued to use it while 
the Indians were in reach. How many of them 
were killed, could not be known, as the Indians, 
in those times, always carried ofiT their dead, 
whenever they could, to prevent their enemies from 
acquiring their savage trophy, the scalp ; but, it 
was believed a great number were killed, in pro- 
portion to the number of combatants opposed to 
them. 

During the action, one of the men observed that 
there was a constant firing from behind a tree-root, 
and watching his opportunity when its occupant 
had to exj)ose himself to take aim, shot him in the 
head, and when one of his comrades had taken up 
the dead body, and was making off with it, shot 
him also, with as much coolness, as if he was 
shooting at a target, and they fell one upon the 
other. The firing was heard at Williamson's camp, 
when Major Pickens' brother, Jose}>h, who was a 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 73 

cajjtain, immediately smnmoned his followers, and 
hastened to his brother's assistance. But, before 
he could reach him, the Indians were beaten back, 
and dispersing, and fleeing to the neighboring 
mountains. 



AN EXTEAORDmAEY EETEEAT. 

In June, 1776, when general Sullivan arrived in 
Canada, the American army was torn in pieces by 
sickness, and various imaccountable occurrences, so 
that a whole regiment was not to be found together. 
The general, with his usual activity and address, 
soon collected together a debilitated and dispirited 
army; tried the strength of the enemy, who were 
at least four to one ; performed an excellent retreat, 
through almost insufferable difficulties, the enemy 
at their heels, 3000 sick with the small-pox, the 
most healthy like so many walking apparitions, all 
their baggage, stores and artillery to be removed, 
officers as well as men all employed in dragging 
cannon, &^e., their batteaux, all loaded, we^-e moved 



74: DAliING DEEDS 

up the rapids six miles, one of wliich was towed 
by the poor and wearied men, while up to their 
arm-pits in water, and all performed in a day and 
a half. The sick and baggage were safely landed 
at St. John's, and from thence carried to Crowi? 
Point, with only the loss of three cannon. 



DON'T GIYE UP THE VESSEL. 

In May, 1776, Captain Mugford, commanding 
the continental armed schooner Franklin, captured 
a British shij) of about 300 tons, and mounting six 
guns. In the then state of the country she was 
invaluable, as her cargo was made up entirely of 
the ammunitions of war. Captain Mugford, after 
Beeing his prize safe into Boston harbor, was going 
out again, but the tide making against him, he 
came to an anchor oif Pudding-gut Point ; the next 
morning, by the dawn of day, the sentry saw thir- 
teen boats, from the British men of war, making 
for them ; they were prepared to receive them 
before they could board the schooner. She sun); 



OF AMERICAN HEEOES. Y5 

five of tlie boats, the remainder attempting to board, 
they cut off the hands of several of the crews as 
they laid them over the gunwale. The brave Caj)- 
tain Mugford, making a blow at the people in the 
boats with a cutlass, received a wound in the 
breast, on which he called his lieutenant and said, 
' I am a dead man : don't give up the vessel / you 
will be able to beat them off; if not, cut the cable 
and run her on shore/ He expired in a few min- 
utes. TJie lieutenant then ran her on shore, and 
the boats made off. Those who were taken up 
from the boats which were sunk, say they lost 
seventy men ; the Franklin had but one man killed 
besides the captain. 



MILITAEY COUETESY. 

In September, 17T6, a picquet of 450 men from 
General Heath's division, constantly mounted guard, 
by relief, at Morrisania, near E'ew York, from which 
a chain of sentinels, within half gun-shot of each 
other were planted. The water passage between 



76 BAKING DEEDS 

Morrisaiiia and Montresor's Island, being in some 
places yeiy narrow, the sentinels on the American 
eide, were ordered not to fire on those of the British, 
unless they began; but the latter were so fond of 
beginning, that there was a frequent firing between 
them. This being the case one day, and a British 
officer wa;lking along the Montresor's side, an 
American sentinel who had been exchanging shots 
with one of the British, seeing the officer, and 
concluding him to be better game, gave him a shot 
and wounded him. He was carried to the house 
on the island. An officer with a fiag came im- 
mediately down to the creek, and calling for the 
American officer of the picquet, informed him, 
that if the American sentinel fired any more, the 
commanding officer on the island would cannonade 
Colonel Morris' house, in which the officers of the 
picquet were quartered. The American officer im- 
m'ediately sent to General Heath, to know what 
answer should be returned. He was directed to 
inform the flag officer, that the American sentinels 
had been instructed not to fire on sentinels^ unless 
they were first fired upon, then, to return the fire : 
and that such should be their conduct — as to the 
cannonading of Colonel Morris' house, they might 



OF AMEEICAN HEKOES. 77 

act tjieir pleasure. The firing ceased for some 
time, mitil one day a raw Scotch sentinel havmg 
been placed, he soon after discharged his piece at 
an American sentinel, which was immediately re- 
turned ; upon which, a British officer came down 
and calling to the American officer, observed, that 
he thought there was to be no firing between the 
sentinels. lie was answered, that their own began : 
upon which he replied, ' He shall then paj for it :' 
the sentinel was directly after relieved, and there 
was no more firing between them, at that place ; 
but they were so civil to each other on their posts, 
that one day, at a part of the creek where it was 
practicable, the British sentinel asked the Ameri- 
can, who was nearly opposite to him, if he could 
give him a chew of tobacco ; the latter, having in 
his pocket a piece of a thick twisted roll, tossed it 
across the creek to the othei:, who after biting off 
a quid sent the remainder back. 



THE SCOTCH PEIZE ; OR, THE LmLE 
YANKEE. 

It happened, in 1776, that the garden of a widow, 
which lay between the American and British 
camps, in the neighborhood of New York, was 
frequently robbed at night. Her son, a mere boy, 
and small for his age, having obtained his mother's 
j)ermission to find ont and secure the thief, in case 
he should return, concealed himself with a gun 
among the weeds. A strapping highlander, belong- 
ing to the British grenadiers, came and having 
filled a large bag, threw it over his shoulder; the 
boy then left his covert, went softly behind him, 
cocked his gun, and called out to the fellow, * You 
are my prisoner : if you attempt to put your bag 
down, I will shoot you dead; go forv^ard in that 
road.' The boy kept close behind him, threatened, 
and was constantly prepared to execute his threats. 
Thus the boy drove him into the American camp, 
where he was secured. "When the grenadier was 
at liberty to throw down his bag, and saw who 



OF AMERICAN nEROES. 79 

had made him prisoner, he was extremely morti- 
fied, and exclaimed, ' A British grenadier made 
prisoner by such a brat ! ' The American officers 
were highly entertained with the adventm-e, made 
a collection for the boy, and gave him several 
pounds. He returned fully satisfied for the losses 
his mother sustained. The soldier had side-arms, 
but they were of no use, as he could not get rid 
of his bag. 



BATTLE OF FOET MOULTEIE. 

On the 20th of June, 1776, a day ever memo- 
rable in the annals of Carolina, the British ships of 
war, nine in number,* commanded by Sir Peter 
Parker, drew up abreast of the fort, let go their 
anchors, with springs upon their cables, and com- 
menced a terrible bombardment. The famous 
battle which followed makes one of the brightest 
pages in our history. Its events, however, are too 

* Two ships of fifty guns ; five of twenty-ei^.ht ; one of twenty-six 
and a bomb-vessel. 



80 DARING DEEDS 

generally known to make it necessary that we 
Bhonld dwell upon them here. A few, however, 
belong properly and especially to om* pages. The 
subject of this memoir was a conspicuous sharer 
in its dangers and in its honors. The fire of the 
enemy was promptly answered, and with such 
efficien^iy of aim as to be long remembered, by the 
survivors. Having but 5000 pounds of powder, with 
which to maintain a conflict that raged for eleven 
hom-s, with unabated violence, it became necessary, 
not only that the discharge from the fort should be 
timed, but that every shot should be made to do 
execution. In order to do this the guns were 
trained by the field-ofiicers in person ; hence, per- 
haps, the terrible fatality of their fire. The Bristol, 
fifty gun ship, Commodore Sir Peter Parker, lost 
forty-four men killed and thirty wounded. Sir 
Peter himself lost an arm. The Experiment, 
another fifty gun ship, had fifty-seven killed and 
thirty wounded. To these two vessels in particidar, 
the attention of the fort was directed. The words, 
passed along the line by officers and men, were — 
"Look to the Commodore — look to the fifty gun 
ships. '^ The smaller vessels suffered comparatively 
little. Their loss of men was small. Tlie injury 



OF AMERICAN HEEOES. 81 

to the vessels themselves was greater, and one of 
them, the Acteon, ran agronnd, and was sub- 
sequently burnt. The Carolinians lost twelve killed 
and twenty-four wounded. . One of the former was 
the brave fellow Macdaniel. When borne from 
the embrasure where he received his mortal wound, 
he cried out to those around him — "Do not give 
up — you are fighting for liberty and country.'' 
The want of powder was severely felt. But for 
this, judging from the effects of the fire from the 
fort, the British Commodore must have struck, or 
his fleet must have been destroyed. So slow, at 
one time, were the discharges — so great the inter- 
val of time between them, — that the British were 
of opinion that the place was abandoned. But a 
new supply of powder was obtained by Marion, 
who, with a small party, leaving the fort, proceeded 
to the armed schooner Defence, lying in Stop Gap 
Creek, and seized upon her powder, by which the 
fire was kept up until a supply of five hundred 
weight was received from the city. This caused a 
renewal of the conflict in all its fury. The garrison 
fought with a coolness which would have done 
\onor to veterans. The day was very warm, and 
the men partially stripped to it. Moultrie says. 



82 DARING DEEDS 

" When the action began, (it being a warm day,) 
some of the men took off their coats and threw 
them upon the top of the merlons. I saw a shot 
take one of them and throw it into a small tree 
behind tlie platform. It w^as noticed by our men, 
and they cried out, " look at the coat !" A little 
incident that speaks volumes for their coolness. 
Moultrie himself and several of his officers smoked 
their pipes during the action, only removing them 
when it became necessary to issue orders. In the 
hottest fire of the battle the flag of the fort was shot 
away, and fell without. The brave Jasper, instantly 
sprang after it upon the beach, between the ramparts 
and the enemy, and binding it to a sponge staff, re- 
stored it to its place, and succeeded in regaining his 
own in safety. "We shall hear more hereafter, of this 
gallant fellow. The coolness — nay the cavalier 
indifference — displayed by the Carolinians through- 
out the combat, is not its least remarkable feature. 
There is something chivalric in such deportment, 
w^hich speaks for larger courage than belongs to 
ordinary valor. Mere bull-dog resolution and 
endurance is here lifted, by a generous ardor of 
soul, into something other than a passive virtue. 
The elasticity of spirit which it shows might be 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 83 

trained to any performance within tlie compass of 
hmnan endowment. 

Tradition ascribes to tlie hand and eye of Marion, 
the terrible effect of the last shot which was fired 
on this bloody day. It was aimed at the Commo- 
dore's ship, which had already received something 
more than her due share of the attention of the 
fort. This shot, penetrating the cabin of the vessel, 
cut down two young officers who were drinking, 
we may suppose, to their fortunate escape from a 
conflict which seemed already over — then ranging 
forward, swept three sailors from the maindeck 
into eternity, and finally buried itself in the bosom 
of the sea. This curious particular was derived 
from five sailors, who deserted from the fleet that 
rery night. 



SERGEANT JASPEE AT FOET MOULTEIE. 

General, then Captain" Ilorry, relates the following 
incident : " I commanded an eighteen pounder in 
the left wing of the fort. Above my gun on the 



84 DA li I N G UE K D S 

rampart, was a large American flag lumg on a 
very higli mast, formerly of a ship ; the men of 
war directing their fire thereat, it was, from their 
shot, so wounded, as to fall, with the colors, over 
the fort. Sergeant Jasper of the grenadiers leapt 
over the ramparts, and deliberately w^alked the 
wdiole length of the fort, until he came to the 
colors on the extremity of the left, when he cut 
off the same from the mast, and called to me for 
a sponge staff, and with a thick cord tied on the 
colors and stuck the staff on the rampart in the 
sand. The sergeant fortunately received no hurt, 
though exposed for a considerable time, to the 
enemy's fire. Governor Rutledge, after the battle, 
as a reward, took his small sword from his side, 
and in presence of many ofiicers, presented it to 
Sergeant Jasper, telling him to wear it in remem- 
brance of the 28th June, and in remembrance of 
him. He also offered Jasper a lieutenant's com- 
mission, but as he could neither read nor write, he 
modestly refused to accept it, saying, ' he was not 
fit to keep officers' company, being only bred a 
sergeant.' " 



JOHISr ADAMS. 

To give some idea of his immense labors, the 
following summary may suffice. He was a member 
of ninety different committees, during 1776, and 
1777. He was chairman of twenty-five. Some of 
these incurred great responsibility, and required 
incessant labors. The important duties thus im- 
posed on him, he continued to discharge with 
fidelity and assiduity till December, 1777 — when 
he was appointed a commissioner to France. This 
appointment he accepted ; and embarked on his 
mission, in the frigate Boston, in the month of 
February, 1778. It was on this voyage that he 
evinced his courage as well as his patriotism, in a 
personal engagement with the enemy of his country. 
Captain Tucker, of the Boston, having discovered 
an English ship, with the consent of Mr. Adams 
gave chase to her ; and, coming up with, engaged 
her. He had stipulated, as a condition of attacking 



Rn DARING DEED 3 

the ship, that Mr. Adams should keep below, out 
of danger. But he soon saw him with his musket, 
among the mariners on deck personally engaged 
in the conflict. 



CHAPTER. 11—1776. 



BATTLE OF PEIKCETON. 

General WasMngton, having secm^ed the Hessian 
prisoners on the Pennsylvania side of the Dela- 
ware, recrossed the river two days after the action, 
and took possession of Trenton. Generals Mifflin 
and Cadwallader, who lay at Bordentown and 
Crosswix with 3600 militia, were ordered to march 
ap in the night of the 1st of January, to join the 
Commander-in-Chief, whose whole effective force, 
including this accession, did not exceed 5000 men. 
The detachments of the British army, which had 
been distributed over N"ew Jersey, now assembled 
at Princeton, and were joined by the army from 
Brunswick under Lord Comwallis. From this po- 
sition the enemy advanced toward Trenton in 
great force, on the morning of the 2d of January; 
and, after some slight skirmishing with troops, 
detached to harass and delay their march, the van 



88 DAKINQ DEEDS 

of their army reached Trenton about four in the 
afternoon. On their approach, General Washington 
retired across the Assumpinck, a rivulet that runs 
through the town, and, by some field-pieces posted 
on its opposite banks, compelled them, after at- 
tempting to cross in several places, to fall back 
out of the reach of his guns. The two armies, 
kindling their fires, retained their position on op- 
posite sides of the rivulet, and kept up a cannon- 
ade until night. 

The situation of the American general was at 
this moment extremely critical, l^othing but a 
stream, in many places fordable, separated his 
army from an enemy, in every respect its superior. 
If he remained in his present position, he was 
certain of being attacked the next morning, at the 
hazard of the entire destruction of his little army. 
If he should retreat over the Delaware, the ice in 
that river not being firm enough to admit a pas- 
sage upon it, there was danger of great loss, 
23erhaps of a total defeat ; the Jerseys would be in 
full possession of the enemy ; the public mind 
would be depressed : recruiting would be discour- 
aged ; and Philadelphia would be within the reach 
of General Howe. In this extremity, he boldly 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 89 

determined to aDandon the Delaware, and by a 
circuitous march aiong the left flank of the enemy, 
fall into their rear at Princeton. As soon as it 
was dark, the baggage was silently removed to 
Burlington ; and abouf one o'clock the army, leaving 
^ts fires lighted, ana the sentinels on the margin 
of the creek, decamped with perfect secrecy. Its 
movement was providentially favored by the 
weather, which had previously been so warm and 
moist, that the ground was soft, and the roads were 
scarcely passable ; but, the wind suddenly changing' 
to the northwest, the ground was in a short time 
frozen as hard as a pavement. About sunrise, two 
British regiments, that were on their march under 
Lieutenant-Colonel Mawhood to join the rear of 
the British army at Maidenhead, fell in with the 
van of the Americans, conducted by General 
Mercer, and a very sharp action ensued. The ad- 
vanced party of Americans, composed chiefly of 
militia, soon gave Avay, and the few regulars at- 
tached to them could not maintain their ground. 
General Mercer, while gallantly exerting himself 
to rally his broken troops, received a mortal wound. 
The British rushed furwai'd with fixed bayonets, and 
drove back tlie Americans. General Washington, 



90 DAEING DEEDS 

who followed close in the rear, now led on the 
main body of the army, and attacked the enemy 
with great spirit. While he exposed himself to 
their hottest fire, he was so well supported by the 
same troops which had aided him a ftw days be- 
fore in the victory at Trenton, that the British 
were compelled to give way. The seventeenth 
regiment, which was in front, forced its way 
through a part of the American troops, and reached 
Maidenhead. The fifty-fifth regiment, which was 
in the rear, retreated by the way of Hillsborough 
to Brunswick. General Washington pressed for- 
ward to Princeton. A party of the British that 
had taken refuge in the college, after receiving a 
few discharges from the American field-pieces, 
came out and surrendered themselves prisoners of 
war; but the principal part of the regiment that 
was left there saved itself by a precipitate retreat 
to Brunswick. In this action, upward of 100 of 
the enemy were killed on the spot, and nearly 
300 were taken prisoners. The loss of the Ameri- 
cans in killed was somewhat less ; but, beside 
General Mercer, Colonels Haslet and Potter, two 
brave and excellent ofiicers from Pennsylvania, 
Captain "Nesl of the artillery. Captain Fleming, and 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 91 

live other valuable officers, were found among the 
biain. 

Lord Cornwallis, discovering at daylight that 
the American army had moved off, broke up his 
camp, and commenced a rapid march to Brunswick, 
and was close in the rear of the Americans before 
they left Princeton. General Washington retired 
with his army to Morristown. During these move- 
ments, many of the AmericUx*! soldiers were without 
shoes ; and their naked feet, in marching over the 
frozen groimd, were so gashed, as to mark each 
step with blood. There was scarcely a tent in the 
whole army. 



BATTLE or BEAl^DYWIl^E. 

>Sir William Howe, having in vain attempted to 
entice or provoke General Washington to an en- 
gagement, had, in June, retired with his army 
trom the Jerseys to Staten Island. After keeping 
*'ne American general in long and perplexing* 
suspense concerning his intended operations, he at 
length sailed from Sandy Hook with about 16.000 



92 DAEINGDEEDS 

men ; entered Chesapeake Bay ; and on the 2U] 
of August arrived at the head of Elk River. Gene 
rals Grant and Knyphansen having joined him ol 
the 8th of September with the troops under tlieii 
command, the whole army moved onward in two 
columns toward Philadelphia, the possession of 
which was now discovered to be the object of the 
British commander. General Washington, wh<2 
regulated his movements by those of the enemy 
had by this time, with the whole American army, 
excepting the light infantry, which remained on 
the lines, taken a position behind Ked Clay Creek, 
on the road leading directly from the enemy's 
camp to Philadelphia. The British boldly advanced 
until they were within two miles of the Ameri- 
cans. General Washington, on reconnoitering their 
situation, apprehending their object to be to turn 
liis right, and, suddenly crossing the Brandy wine, 
to seize the heights on the north side of that river 
and cut off his communication with Philadelphia, 
changed his position early in the night of the 8th 
of September, crossed the Brandywine. and the 
next morning took post behind that river, on the 
lieio:ht near Chadd's Ford 



O F A M E R I C A N H E R O E S . 93 

At daybreak on the morning of tlie llth, tlie 
royal army advanced in two colnmns, the one com- 
manded by Lieutenant-General Knyphausen, and 
the other bj Lord Cornwallis. While the first 
column took the direct road to Chadd's Ford, and 
made a show of passing it in front of the main 
body of the Americans, the other moved np on 
the west side of the Brandywine to its fork, crossed 
both its branches about two in the afternoon, and 
marched down on its eastern side with the view 
of turning the right wing of their adversaries. 
General Washington, on receiving intelligence of 
"their approach, made the proper disposition to 
receive them. The divisions commanded by Sulli- 
van, Stirling, and Stephen, advanced a little farther 
up the Brandywine, and fronted the column of the 
approaching enemy ; Wayne's division, with Max- 
well's light infantry, remained at Chadd's Ford, to 
keep Knyphausen in check ; Green's division, ac- 
companied by General Washington, formed a 
reserve, and took a central position between the 
right and left wings. The divisions detached against 
Cornwallis took possession of the heights above 
Birmingham church, their left reaching toward the 
Brandywine ; the artillery was I'udiciously placed. 



94 D A 11 1 N G D E E D S 

and their flanks were covered by woods. About 
four o'clock, Lord Cornwallis formed the line of 
battle, and began the attack. The Americans sus- 
tained it for some time with intrej^idity ; but their 
right at length giving way, the remaining divi- 
sions, exposed to a galling fire on the flank, con- 
tinued to break on the right, and the whole line 
was soon completely routed. As soon as Comwallia 
had commenced his attack ; Knyphausen crossed 
the ford, and attacked the troops posted for its 
defence ; which, after a serve conflict, were com- 
pelled to give way. The retreat of the Americans, 
which soon became general, was continued that 
night to Chester, and the next day to Philadelphia. 
The loss, sustained by the Americans in this action, 
is estimated at 300 killed, and 600 wounded. Be 
tween 300 and 400, principally the wounded, were 
made prisoners. The loss of the British was stated 
to be rather less than 100 killed, and 400 wounded 
As the British were advancing toward Goshen to 
gain the Lancaster road, dispositions were again 
made for battle, on the 16th, by both armies ; but 
a heavy rain separated the advance parties, which 
nad begun to skirmish, and its increasing violence 
soon obliofed the Americans to retreat. General 



OF AMERICAN UEKOES. 95 

Wasliington on tlie lOtli crossed tlie Sdmylkill, 
and encamped on the eastern banks of that river ; 
while detachments of his army were posted at the 
several fords, over which the enemy would pro- 
])ably attempt to force a passage. 



BATTLE OF GEEMANTOW]^. 

General "Washington, having been reinforced by 
1500 men from Peekskill, and 1000 from Virginia, 
and having received intelligence through two inter- 
cepted letters, that General Howe had detached a 
part of his force for the purpose of reducing Bill- 
ing's-point works and the forts on the Delaware, 
entertained the thought of attacking the main body 
as it lay at Germantown. The line of encampment 
crossed the town at right angles about the center ; 
the left wing extended to the Schuylkill. It was 
covered in front by the mounted and dismounted 
chasseurs : a battalion of light infantry, and the 
Queen's American rangers were in the front of 
the right ; and the 40th regiment, w4th another 



96 DARING DEEDS 

battalion of light infantry, were posted at the head 
of the town, upon Chestnut-Hill road, there quarters 
of a mile in advance. Lord Cornwallis lay at Phila- 
delphia with four battalions of grenadiers. When 
General Washington had communicated to his coun- 
cil of war the account he had obtained, the general 
officers unanimously agreed upon an attack, and to 
its being made in severrl places, to produce the 
greater confusion and disti action, and to hinder the 
several parts of the enemy's forces affording sup- 
port to each other. It waa to be sudden and vigor- 
ous, in expectation of carrying the point speedily, 
from an apprehension that the Americans would 
not persevere in a prolonged attack, for want of 
better discipline and more acquaintance with mili- 
tary service. Was it found thai, they could make 
no impression upon the enemy, tlicy were after a 
while to make an expeditious retreat. The divi- 
sions of Sullivan and Wayne, flanked by Conway's 
brigade, were to enter the town by way of Chestnut 
Hill; while Armstrong, w4th the Pennsylvfvua mili- 
tia, got upon the enemy's left and rear. 0-^lonel 
Thomas Conway, Knight of St. Louis, had Jieen 
elected so early as May, a brigadier-geners>-l, i\;^on 
the recommendatorv letters he brouirht fioin F'aroc. 

1/ o 



OF A M E P. I C A N HEROES. 97 

The divisions of Greene and Stephen, fianked Ly 
M'Dougall's brigade, were to enter by taking a 
circuit at tlie market-lionse, and to attack the right 
wing ; and the militia of Maryland and Jersey, 
under Generals Smallwood and Freeman were to 
march by the old York road, and fall upon the 
rear of the right. Lord Stirling, with Kash's and 
Maxwell's brigades, were to form a corps de reserve. 
They began their march about seven o'clock in 
the evenino- of the 3d of October. General Wash- 
ington is with the divisions of Sullivan and "Wayne. 
He expects that if the enemy has gained timely 
intelligence of his march, they will wajt for him 
on Chestnut Hill, and receive him as he comes out 
of the woods. When arrived on the hill, without 
any appearance of opposition, he is congratulated 
upon the persuasion that the British will be com- 
pletely surprised. About sunrise on the fourth the 
attack is begun on the 40th regiment, and the bat- 
talion of light infantry that accompanied it. These 
corps are overpowered and pursued. In this exi- 
gence Lieutenant-Colonel Musgrave throws him- 
self, with six companies of the 40th regiment, into 
Mr. Chew's stone house, lying full in the front of 
the Americans. These halt. A discourse ensues 



OS D A K I N G D 3-: E D S 

between Generals Knox and Reed, in tlie presence 
of the Commander-in-CLief, whetlier or not to ad- 
vance without first redncing the honse. Knox nrgea 
that it is contrary to all military rule to leave a foit 
possessed by an enemy in tlieir rear. Heed ex 
claims — " What ! call this a fort, and lose the 
happy moment ! " Conway is incjuired after to give 
his judgment, but cannot be found. It is agreed 
to send a flag to the house, and summon the 
British officer to surrender. A young person 
imdertakes to carry it. He approaches, is fired 
upon, and killed. Meanwhile, General Greene gets 
up with his column, and attacks the right wing of 
tlie enemy. The morning being exceedingly foggy, 
prevents the Americans from fully improving the 
advantages they gain. Colonel Mathews, of Greene's 
column, attacks with uncommon spirit, routs the 
parties opposed to him, kills a great number, and 
makes 110 prisoners ; but, through the fog, loses 
sight of the brigade he belougs to, is separated 
from it, and is taken prisoner with his whole regi- 
ment, accompanied w^ith the release of all whom 
he had captured. A number of Greene's troops 
are stopped by the halt of the division before 
Chew's house, where near or (piite one half of 



OF AMERICAN HEKOES. 90 

General Washington's army remains some time in- 
active. During this inactivity, General Grey, bring- 
ing the front of a great part of the left wing by a 
timely movement to Germantown, leads on three 
battalions of the third brigade and attacks with 
vigor, being supported by General Agnew at the 
head of the fourth brigade. A warm engagement 
ensues. At the same time, two British regiments 
attack on the opposite side of the town; while 
General Grant moves up the 49th regiment, to the 
aid of the 4th, which is employed in supporting the 
troops engaged with Greene's column. The fog is 
so great, that at times you cannot see twenty 
yards before you, and frequently not more than 
lilty. It occasions the American parties mistaking 
each other for the enemy, and prevents their ob- 
serving the true situation of the latter. Owing 
hereto, in a great measure, the Americans quit 
every part of the town ; and when General Grey, 
having passed it, advsfeices with the British right 
wing upon their left, they leave the field hastily 
and entirely, in spite of every effort that can be 
made to rally them. Lord Cornwallis arrives with 
a squadron of light horse just in season to join in 

the pursuit. Greene with his own and Stephen's 
5* 



100 DARING DEEDS 

division, happens to form tlie last column of tlip 
retreating Americans. Upon coming to two roads, 
and thinking it will be safest, and may prevent 
the enemy's advancing by either so as to get ahead 
of him ; and that the divisions may aid each othei 
upon occasion, he marches one division on the one 
road, and the second on the other. While contin- 
uing his retreat, Pulaski's cavalry w^ho is in his 
rear, being fired upon by the enemy, rides over the 
second division, and throws them into the utmost 
disorder, as they know not at first but that they 
are the British dragoons. The men run and scatter, 
and the general is apprehensive that he shall lose 
his artillery. He cannot collect a party sufficient 
to form a rear guard, till he hits upon the device 
of ordering the men to lay hold of each other's 
hands. This answers. He collects a number, and 
by the help of the artillery, brings the enemy to 
give over the pursuit, after having continued it 
near five miles. The Anifericans then proceeded 
in their march back to Shippach Creek without 
fi\rther distm-bance. 

The British officers acknowledged, soon after this 
affair, that it was the severest blow they had met 
with ; that it was planned with judgment, and 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 101 

executed with spirit ; and that thej were at a loss 
for its not being followed up, unless it was for 
want of ammunition. The Americans lost in killed 
twentj-five continental oflScers, commissioned and 
non-commissioned, wounded 102, and an equal num- 
ber missing. The militia were, three killed, four 
wounded, and eleven missing. Of rank and file, 
continentals, 109 were killed, and 378 wounded — 
militia, seven were killed and nineteen wounded. 
They had artillery officers, two killed and eleven 
wounded; and matrosses six killed and seven 
wounded. The total of their killed was 152 ; and 
of their wounded 521. Upward of 400 were made 
prisoners, among whom were fifty-fom* officers. 
The number of missing among the Americans is 
riu rule by which, to judge of the number caj)tured 
by the enemy, as many of the missing, w^ho do 
not return to their colors, go home. General ISTash, 
of ^orth Carolina, was among the slain, and will 
be honored by Congress with, a monument, the 
same as other generals who have fallen in action, 
bravely contending for the independence of the 
United States. 
The loss of the'^ royal army, including the wounded 



102 DAKING DEEDS 

and a few prisoners, amounted hj their own acknow- 
ledgment, to 535 ; but tlie slain scarcely exceeded 
seventy. Among these, however, were some distin- 
guished officers, particularly General Agnew and 
Lieutenant-Colonel Bird. They suffered probably 
more than they allowed. The battle, by General 
Knox's watch, held two hours and forty minutes. 



GEIS^ERAL WAYJN'E'S WAEHOESE. 

At the battle of Germantown, General Wayne 
rode his gallant roan ; and in charging the enemy, 
his horse received a wound in his head, and fell, 
as was supposed, dead. Two days after, the roan 
returned to the American camp, not materially 
injured; and was again fit for service. 



COLOJSTEL M'LA^^E. 

This venerable and distinguished soldier of the 
Revolution, after having reached the patriarchal age 
of eightj-three, closed his earthly pilgrimage at Wil- 
mington, Delaware, in 1829. 

Colonel M'Lane was distinguished for daring per 
sonal courage, and for his unremitted activity as a 
partisan officer. He was long attached to Lee's 
famous legion of horse, which, throughont the war, 
was the terror of the British. 

While the British occupied Philadelphia, Colonel 
M'Lane was constantly scouring the adjacent coun- 
try, particularly the upper part of Philadelphia, 
Bucks, and Montgomery counties — seizing every 
opportunity to cut off the scom-ing parties of the 
enemy, to intercept their supplies of provisions, 
and to take advantage of every opening whicli 
offered for striking a sudden blow. In this capa- 
city, he rendered many important ser\dces to the 
army, and caused great alarm to the British; and 



104: DARING DEEDS 

though they frequently attempted to surprise and 
take him, yet such was his constant watchfuhiess, 
that none of their attempts succeeded. Having 
concerted with Captain Craig, the plan of an attack 
upon a small detachment of the enemy, they 
agreed to rendezvous at a house near Shoemake- 
town, eight miles from Philadelphia, on the Willow 
Grove turnpike. Colonel M'Lane, having ordered 
his little band of troopers to follow at some dis- 
tance, commanded two of them to precede the 
main body, but also to keep in his rear ; and if 
they discovered an enemy to ride up to his side 
and inform him of it without speaking aloud. 
While leisurely approaching the place of rendez- 
vous, in this order, in the early gray of the mor- 
ning, the two men directly in his rear, forgetting 
their orders, suddenly called out, " Colonel, the 
British !" faced about, and putting spurs to their 
horses, were soon out of sight. The colonel, looking 
around, discovered that he was in the center of a 
powerful ambuscade, into which the eneni}- had 
silently allowed him to j)ass, without his observing 
them. They lined both sides of the road, and had 
been stationed there to pick up any straggling 
party of the Americans that might chance to j)ass. 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. K)5 

Immediately on finding they were discovered, a 
file of soldiers rose from the side of the highway, 
and fired at the colonel, but without effect — and 
as he put spurs to his horse, and mounted the 
road-side into the woods, the other part of the de- 
tachment also fired. The colonel miraculously 
escaped : but a shot striking his horse upon the 
flank, he dashed through the woods, and in a few 
minutes reached ar> parallel road upon the opposite 
side of the forest. Being familiar with the country, 
he feared to turn to the left, as that course led to 
the city, and he might be intercepted by another 
ambuscade. Turning, therefore, to the right his 
frightened horse carried him swiftly beyond the 
reach of those who fired upon him. All at once, 
however, on emerging from a piece of woods, he 
observed several British troopers stationed near the 
road-side, and directly in sight ahead, a farm house, 
around which he observed a whole troojj of the 
enemy's cavalry drawn up. He dashed by the 
troopers near him, without being molested, they 
believing he was on his way to the main body to 
surrender himself. The farm house was situated 
at the intersection of two roads, presenting but few 
avenues by which he could escaj)e. Nothing 



106 DARING DEEDS 

daunted by the formidable array before liim, he 
galloped up to the cross roads ; on reaching 
which he spurred his active horse, turned suddenly 
to the right, and was soon fairly out of the reach 
of their pistols, though as he turned, he heard 
them call loudly, surrender or die. A dozen were 
instantly in pursuit; but, in a short time, they all 
gave up the chase, except two. Colonel M'Lane's 
horse, scared by the first wound he had ever re- 
ceived, and being a chosen animal, kept ahead for 
several miles, while his two pursuers followed with 
unwearied eagerness. 

The pursuit at length waxed so hot that, as the 
colonel's horse stepped out of a small brook which 
crossed the road, his pursuers entered at the op- 
posite margin. In ascending a little hill the 
horses of the three were greatly exhausted, so 
much that neither could be urged faster than a 
walk. Occasionally, as one of the troopers pursued 
on a little in advance of his companion, the 
colonel slackened his pace, anxious to be attacked 
by one of the two — but no sooner was his willing- 
ness discovered, than the other fell back to his 
station. They at length approached so near that 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 107 

a conversation took j^lace between tlieni : tlie 

troopers calling out — "Surrender, you damned 

rebel, or we'll cut jou to pieces." Suddenly, one 

of them rode up on the right side of the colonel, 

and without drawing his sword, laid hold of his 

collar. The latter, to use his own words " had 

pistols which he knew he could depend upon." 

Drawing one from the holster, he placed it to the 

heart of his antagonist, fired, and tumbled him 

dead on the ground. Instantly the other came up 

on his left, with sword drawn, and also seized him 

by the collar of his coat. A fierce and deadly 

struggle here ensued ; in the course of which 

Colonel M'Lane was desperately wounded in the 

back of his left hand, cutting asunder the veins 

and tendons of that member. Seizing a favorable 

oj)portunity, he drew his other j)istol, and with a 

steadiness of purpose, which aj^peared even in his 

recital of the incident, placed it directly between 

the eyes of his adversary, pulled the trigger, and 

scattered his brains on every side of the road. 

Fearing that others were in pursuit, he abandoned 

his horse in the highway : and apprehensive, from 

his extreme weakness, that he might die from loss 

8 



108 DARING DEEDS 

of blood, lie crawled into an adjacent mill pond, 
entirely naked, and at lengtli succeeded in stopping 
the profuse flow of blood, occasioned bj his woiiDd. 



KEY. THOMAS ALLEK 

Rev. Thomas Allen was the first minister of 
l^ittsiield. Wlien the American Hevolntion com- 
menced, he like the great body of the clergy, 
ardently espoused the cause of the oppressed colo- 
nies, and bore his testimony against the oppression 
of the mother country. When, in anticipation of 
the conflict which finally took place at Bennington, 
the neighboring country was roused to arms, he 
used his influence to increase the band of Patriots, 
by exciting his townsmen to proceed to the battle 
ground. A company was raised in his parish and 
l^roceeded. Some causes, however, were found to 
retard their progress on the way. Hearing of the 
delay, he proceeded immediately to join them, by 
his influence quickened their march, and soon pre- 
sented them to Gen. Stark. Learnino- from him 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 100 

tliat he meditated an attack on the enemy, lie said 
he would fight, but could not willingly bear arms 
against them, until he had invited them to submit, 
lie was insensible to fear, and accordingly j)ro- 
ceeded so near as to make himself distinctly heard 
in their camp, where, after taking a stand on a 
convenient eminence, he commenced his pious 
exhortations, urging them to lay down their arms. 
He was answered by a volley of musketry, which 
lodged their contents in the log on which he stood. 
Turning calmly to a friend, who had followed him 
under cover of the breast -work which formed his 
footstool, he said — "l^ow give me a gun;" and 
this is said to be the first American gun which 
spoke on that memorable occasion. He continued 
to bear his part till the battle was decided in favor 
of the American arms, and contributed honorably 
to that result. 



BATTLE OF BEIT:N'I]SrGTO N. 

General Burgoyne's progress toward Albany was 
delayed through the want of speedy and sufficient 
supply of provisions. He considered in what way 
the difficulty was to be surmounted. According to 
information, the Americans had a great deposit of 
corn, flour, and store cattle at Bennington, which 
was guarded only by militia. Every day's account 
confirmed the persuasion of the loyalty of one de- 
scription of the inhabitants in that part of the 
country, and of the panic of the other. He there- 
fore entertained the design of surprising the stores 
at Bennington, and of sending a very large detach- 
ment upon the expedition; but was diverted from 
the latter, as supposed, by Major Skeen, who 
assured him, " The friends to the British cause are 
as five to one, and they want only the appearance 
of a protecting power to show themselves." Be- 
lying upon their attachment, the general sent the 
German Lieutenant-Colonel Baum, with only about 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. Ill 

500 men, and 100 Indians, who carried wltli tlieni 
two light pieces of artillery. To facilitate the' ope- 
ration the army moved along the eastern shore of 
Hudson Kiver, and encamped nearly opposite to 
Saratoga ; and a bridge of rafts being throw^n over, 
the advance corps passed to that place. Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel Breyman's corps, consisting of the 
Brunswick grenadiers, light infantry, and chasseurs, 
were j^osted at Batten-kill, in order if necessary to 
support Baum. Stark, hearing that a party of 
Indians was at Cambridge, sent Lieutenant-Colonel ' 
Gregg with 200 men to stop their progress. Toward 
night he was informed by express, that there was 
a large body of regulars in the rear of the Indians. 
On that he drew together his brigade, and the 
militia who were at hand, in order to stop their 
march ; sent to Manchester for Colonel Warner's 
regiment, and forwarded expresses to the neighbor- 
ing militia to join him with all speed. He then 
marched, in the morning of the 14:th, with Colonels 
Warner, Williams, and Brush, and the men present, 
and in about seven miles met G-regg retreating, 
and the enemy within a mile of him. Tlie troops 
drew up in order of battle ; and the enemy, upon 
coming in sight, halted upon a very advantageous 



112 DARING DEEDS 

piece of grouiid. Banm perceiving that the Amer- 
icans were too strong to be attacked by his present 
force, sent an express to Burgoyne with an account 
of his situation; and Breyman was iinmediately 
despatched to reinforce him. Meanwhile small 
parties of the Americans skirmished with the 
enemy, killed and wounded thirty of them, with 
two Indian chiefs, without any loss to themselves, 
which had a good effect upon their courage. The 
ground Stark occupied not being suitable for a 
general action, he retreated about a mile and en- 
camped. In a council of war, it was agreed to send 
two detachments into the enemy's rear, while the 
rest of the troops attacked in front.. 

On the 15th of August it rained all day, which 
retarded the intended assault ; however there was 
frequent skirmishings in small parties. The heavy 
rain, together with the badness of the roads ^ 
prevented also Breyman's advancing to Baum's 
assistance with despatch. The next day, August 
16th, -Stark being joined in the morning by Col- 
onel Seymonds, from Berkshire, pursued his plan. 
Baum, in the meanwhile, had entrenched and 
rendered his post as defensible as time and its 
nature would permit. General Stark detaclied 



OF AMERICAN HEKOES. 113 

Kicliols with his force to the rear of his left : 
Colonel Ilenrick, with 300 men, was sent to the 
rear of his right : they were to join, and then 
attack. Warner, Hubard and Sticknej, with 200, 
were posted still farther on his right. A hundred 
men were also advanced toward his front to draw 
his attention that way. About three o'clock in the 
afternoon all were ready for the attack. Before 
Nichols and Ilenrick could join, the Indians pushed 
off between the two corps, but receiving a fire as 
they passed, had three killed and two wounded, 
l^ichols then began the assault upon Baum, and 
was followed by the rest ; those in front pushing 
forward. In a few^ minutes the action oecame 
general, and lasted about two hours, with one con- 
tinued noise like the ruffling of a drum. Baum 
made a brave defence ; and the German dragoons 
kej)t together after having expended their ammuni- 
tion, and led by their colonel charged with their 
swords, but were soon overpowered. The wlfble 
detachment, though well enclosed by two breast- 
works, were forced to" give way to the superior 
number and corn-age of the Americans, who with 
their brown firelocks, scarce a bayonet, little disci- 
pline, and not a single piece of cannon, ventured 



114 DARING DEEDS 

to attack 500 well trained regulars, fiirnislied with 
the best and completest arms and accoutrements, 
having two pieces of artillery, being advantageously 
posted, and accompanied by 100 Indians. When 
the militia had gained the victory, they dispersed 
to collect plunder, which they were very desirous 
of securing. This nearly proved fatal to them. 
While thus busied. Stark received information, tl.at 
the reinforcement under Breyman was within two 
miles of him. Happily, at that instant, Warner's 
continental regiment, which had been sent f(^r from 
Manchester, came up fresh, marched on, and began 
to eno-asie ; meanwhile the militia collected as fast 
as possible, and pushed on to its assistance. The 
action became general ; and the battle continued 
obstinate on both sides till sunset ; when the Ger 
mans gave way, partly through a failure of ammu 
nition, leaving their two pieces of artillery behind 
them, and a number of prisoners. They retreated 
in -the best manner they could, improving the 
advantage of the evening and of the night. 

The Americans took four brass field-pieces, 
twelve brass drums, 250 dragoon swords, fouj 
ammunition wagons, and 700 prisoners, among whom 
was Lieutenant-Colonel Baum. Three hundred dead 



OF AMERICAN IIEROEB. H^ 

are s^ld to Lave been found npon the spot; but if 
60, surelj the shiin on each side must have been 
included. The Americans lost but about 100 killed 
and wounded. The courage of the men was 
sharpened bj the prospect of advantage, for in 
General Stark's orders thej vrere promised all the 
plunder that should be taken in the enemy's camp. 
The roval officers were astonished to see how un- 
dauntedly they rushed on the mouths of the 
cannon. Both men and officers are entitled to 
much honor for their gallant behavior. Colonels 
Vrarner and Ilenrick's superior skill in military, 
mattei-s was of service to the general, who was 
less conversant with them than they; but his rank 
in the army of the United States was afterward 
given him by Congress, on the 4th of October, 
when they " Eesolved, That the thanks of Con-ress 
be presented to General Stark, of the ]S^ew Hamp- 
shire militia, and the officers and troops under his 
command, for their brave and successful attack 
upon, and signal victory over the enemy in their 
lines at Eennington ; and that Brigadier Stark bo 
appointed a brigadier-general in the army of the 
United States." Never were thanks more de- 

BQwedly bestowed. This was the first turn of 
6 



110 DARING DEEDS 

affairs in favor of the Americans in tlie northern 
department after the death of General Montgomery. 
It raised the spirits of the country, and made the 
militia willing to turn out beyond what would 
have otherwise been done. 



BATTLE OF SAEATOGA. 

After collecting thirty day's provision Burgoyne 
passed the Hudson, and encamped at Saratoga, 
Gates, with numbers already equal, and continually 
augmenting, began to advance toward him with 
a resolution to oppose his progress at the risk of a 
battle. He encamped at Stillwater, and Burgoyne 
hastened forward to open the way with his sword. 
On the lYth of September the two armies were 
within four miles of each other. Two days after, 
skirmishes between advanced parties terminated in 
an engagement almost general, in which the utmost 
efforts of the British merely enabled them to main- 
tain the footing of the preceding day. 

Burgoyne, unassisted by the British forces under 



OF AMEKICAN HEROES. 



*117 



Clinton at New York, found himself unable to 
pursue liis march down the river, and in the hope 
of this assistance, was content to remain in his 
camp, and stand on the defensive. His Srmy was 
likewise diminished by the desertion of the Indians 
and the Canadian militia, to less than one half of 
its original nmnber. Gates finding his forces 
largely increasing, being plentifully supplied with 
provisions, and knowing that Burgoyne had only a 
limited store, which was rapidly lessening, and 
could not be recruited, was not without hopes that 
victory would come, in time, even without a battle. 
His troops were so numerous, and his fortified 
position so strong, that he was able to take mea- 
sures for preventing the retreat of the enemy, by 
occupying the strong posts in his rear. Accord- 
ingly nineteen days passed without any further 
operations, a delay as ruinous to one party, as it 
was advantageous to the other. At the end of this 
period, the British general found his prospects of 
assistance as remote as ever, and the consumption 
of his stores so alarming, that retreat or victory 
became unavoidable alternatives. 

On the 8th of October a warm action ensued, 
in which the British were everywhere repulsed, 



11^ 



D A K 1 N G DEEDS 



and a part of tlieir lines occnpied bj their ene- 
mies. Burgoj'ne's loss was veiy considerable in 
killed, wounded, and prisoners, wliile tlie favorable 
situation of Gates' army made its losses in the 
battle of no moment. Burgovne retired in the 
night to a stronger camp, but the measures imme- 
diately taken by Gates, to cut oii his retreat, com- 
pelled him without delay to regain his former camp 
at Saratoga. There he arrived with little molesta- 
tion from his adversary. His pi'ovisions being now 
reduced to the supply of a few days, the transport 
of artillery and baggage toward Canada being 
rendered impracticable by the judicious measures 
of his adversary, the British general resolved upon 
a rapid retreat, merely with what the soldiers 
could carry on their backs. 

On a careful scrutiny, however, it was found 
that they were deprived even of this resource, as 
the passes through which their route lay were so 
strongly guarded that nothing but artillery could 
clear them. In this desperate situation a parley 
took place, and on the 16th of October the whole 
army surrendered to Gates. The prize obtained 
consisted of more than 5000 prisoners, some fine 
artillery, YOOO muskets, clothing for 7000 men, 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. .119 

with a great quantity of tents, and other military 
stores. All the frontier fortresses were immediately 
abandoned to the victors. 

It is not easy to overrate the importance of this 
success. It may be considered as deciding the war 
of the Revolution, as from that period the British 
cause began rapidly to decline. The capture of 
Cornwallis was not of more importance than that 
of Burgoyne, nor was it in itself an event of greater 
splendor, or productive of more exultation. 



REYOLUTIONARY EEMINISCEKCE. 

Major W. II., an officer who was distinguished 
for his bravery and gallant spirit, had under his 
charge about 300 ' Green Mountain boys' — a most 
significant appellation in those days — all of vrhom 
were sharpshooters, accustomed to the field, and 
strangers to fear. This corps was placed on an 
advantageous piece of ground, partly concealed by 
bushes. The enemy were duly apprised of their 
position, and It was deemed impuJ'tant tv {]l6]oiJg<d 



120 DARING DEEDS 

them. Accordinglj, a formidable detachment, esti- 
mated at about 500 strong, was ordered to march 
against them. They advanced upon a charge, think- 
ins: to decide the contest without much loss and 
with little difficulty. The Americans undismayed, 
were prepared to receive them. Major H. gave 
peremptory orders to his troops to reserve their 
fire until the word of command ; the enemy there- 
fore rushed on without interruption until they had 
approached within a few rods of this Spartan 
>;and, when, pursuant to order, so deadly a fire was 
poured into their ranks, that those who escaped 
retreated in dismay and confusion. The surviving 
officers, and they were few in number, soon rallied 
their forces and brought them a second time to 
the charge, advancing to the line of their comrades 
who had fallen, when they received a second fire 
not less destructive than the first; the enemy were 
completely panic struck, and fell back in wild dis- 
order. The few remaining officers, however, who 
behaved with dauntless bravery, and probably 
thirsting for vengeance, rallied their trooj)S once 
more, although but few were left, and brought 
them a third time to the charge. The issue of 
this attempt was not less fatal then the others ; for 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 121 

after receiving the third fire, the survivors fled in 
terror and despair, and soon surrendered themselves 
prisoners of war. Their astonishment was past 
utterance when they found that out of the whole 
force with whom they had been associated, no more 
than thirty-six remained ! The others lay stretched 
upon the field in mute silence, presenting a terri- 
ble memento of the power and unyielding spirit 
of freemen, when summoned to battle in the defence 
of invaded rights. 

Immediately after the issue of the engagement, 
my informant repaired to that part of the field 
which had been attended with such fatal conse- 
quences to the enemy. He was horror struck on 
witnessing the scene that presented itself to his 
view. And his declaration to the writer of this 
article was, ' I never beheld so awfid a spectacle 
as here greeted my eyes. It was a winrow of 
dead men from one end of the line to the other? 
The contrast of the * Green Mountain boys,' was 
scarcely less striking, as but few of them were 
iniured. 



MxiECII OF BUEGOYNE. 

As the invader advanced, the inhabitants fled in 
the wildest consternation. The lioi-rors of war, how- 
ever mitigated bj the laws and usages of civiliza- 
tion, are at all times sufliciently terrific ; but when 
to these the fierce cruelties of a dond of savages 
are superadded, those only wlio have been familiar 
with an American border warfare can form an ade- 
"jnate opinion of its atrocities. Among the fugitives 
driven from their peaceful abodes on the present 
occasion was Mrs. Ann Eliza Bleecker, a lady who 
has been somewhat celebrated as one of the early 
poets of onr country. She was tlie daughter of Mr. 
Brandt Schuyler, of the city of liew York, and the 
wife of John J. Bleecker, Esq., of liew Kochelle, 
whose enterprise, together with his lady's love for 
the wild scenery of tlie forest, had- induced him to 
exchange a residence among the busy haunts of 
men for a solitaiy plantation in the vale of the 
Tcjuihanic, a mountain stream flowing into the 



OF AMEEIOAN HEE.OES. 123 

Hoosic Hiver, about twenty miles from Albany. 

Mr. Bleecker's residence lay directly in the march 

of Burgoyne, on whose approach he hastened to 

Albany to provide accommodations for his family. 

But a few hours after his departure, Mrs. Bleecker, 

as she sat at the table, received intelligence that 

the enemy, with tomahawk and brand, was within 

two miles of her residence. Instant flight was the 

only alternative. Taking one of her children in 

her arms, and seizing the other by the hand, she 

started off on foot, attended only by a young 

mulatto girl, and leaving her house and all its 

contents a prey to the Indians. The roads were 

encumbered by carriages, loaded with women and 

children, each intent upon his or her own safety ; 

so that no assistance could be obtained, and her 

only recourse was to mingle in the fugitive throng, 

and participate in the common panic and common 

distress. Having traveled about -Q-ve miles on foot, 

however, she succeeded in obtaining a seat for the 

children in a wagon, which served to facilitate her 

march. On the following morning she was met 

by her husband, who conducted her to Albany, 

and thence down the Hudson as far as Red Hook, 

one of her children dying by the way. 
G* 9 



124 DARING DEEDS 

Amid this scene of desolation and affright, there 
was yet one woman whose proud spirit was un- 
daunted. It was the lady of General Schuyler. 
The general's country-seat was upon his estate in 
Saratoga, standing upon the margin of the river. 
On the approach of Burgoyne, Mrs. Schuyler went 
up to Saratoga, in order to remove their furniture. 
Her carriage was attended by only a single armed 
man on horseback. When within two miles of her 
house, she encountered a crowd of panic-stricken 
people, who recited to her the tragic fate of Miss 
M'Crea, and, representing to her the danger of 
proceeding farther in the face of the enemy, urged 
her to return. She had yet to pass through a 
dense forest, within which even then some of the 
savage troops might be lurking for prey. But to 
these prudential counsels she would not listen. 
"The general's wife," she exclaimed, "must not 
be afraid !" and, pushing forward, she accomplished 
her purpose. 

Before the mansion was evacuated, however, the 
general himself had a narrow esca2:)e from assassi- 
nation by the hand of a savage, who had insinuated 
himself into the house for that purpose. It was at 
the hour of bedtime in the evening, and while the 



OF AMEKICAN HEKOES. 12'5 

geiieral was preparing to retire for the night, that 
a female servant, in coming in from the hall, saw 
a gleam of light reflected from the blade of a knife, 
in the hand of some person whose dark outline she 
discerned behind the door. The servant was a 
black slave, who had sufficient presence of mind 
not to appear to have made the discovery. Pass- 
ing directly through the door into the apartment 
where the general was yet standing near the fire- 
place, with an air of unconcern she pretended to 
arrange such articles as were disposed upon the 
manteljDiece, while in an under-tone she informed 
her master of her discovery, and said, aloud, " I 
will call the guard." The general instantly seized 
his arms, while the faithful servant hurried out by 
another door into a long hall, upon the floor of 
which lay a loose board which creaked beneath 
the tread. By the noise she made in tramping 
rapidly upon the board, the Indian — for such he 
proved — was led to suppose that the Philistines 
were upon him in numbers, sj^rang from his con- 
cealment and fled. He was pursued, however, by 
the guard and a few friendly Indians attached to 
the person of General Schuyler, overtaken, and 
made prisoner. Exasj^erated at his treachery, the 



126 DAKING DEEDS 

friendly Indians were resolved to put liim to death, 
and it was with much difficulty that they were 
diverted from their purpose by the general. 

The effect of the incidents we have been detail- 
ing, and other recitals of savage cruelties, not all, 
as General Burgoyne represented, without founda- 
tion, was extensive and powerfd. The cry of ven- 
geance was universal, and a spirit was aroused 
wliich j^roved of speedy and great advantage to 
the American arms. 



BATTLE OF OEISKANY. 

It appears that on the morning of that day, 
which was the 9th of August, General Herkimer 
had misgivings as to the propriety of advancing 
any farther v,^itliout first receiving re-enforcements. 
His officers, however, were eager to press forward. 
A consultation was held, in which some of the 
officers manifested much impatience at any delay, 
while the general still urged them to remain where 
they were until re-enforcements could come up, or 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 127 

at least until the signal of a sortie should be re- 
ceived from the fort. High words ensued, during 
which Colonels Cox and Paris, and many others, 
denounced their commander to his face as a Tory 
and a coward. The brave old man calmly replied 
that he considered himself placed over them as a 
father, and that it was not his wish to lead them 
to any difficulty from which he could not extricate 
them. Burning, as they now seemed, to meet the 
enemy, he told them roundly that they would run 
at his first appearance. But his remonstrances 
were unavailing. Their clamor increased, and 
their reproaches were rej)eated, until, stung by 
imputations of cowardice and a want of fidelity to 
the cause, and somewhat irritated, withal, the general 
immediately gave the order, " March on !" The 
words were no sooner heard than the troops gave 
a shout, and moved, or, rather, rushed forward. 
They marched forward in files of two deep, pre- 
ceded by an advanced guard and keeping flanks 
upon each side. 

Having, by ten o'clock, proceeded rapidly forward 
to the distance of only two or three miles, the 
guards, both front and flanks, were suddenly shot 
down, *the forest rang with the war-whoops of a 



128 DARING DEEDS 

savage foe, and in an instant the greater part of 
the division found itself in the midst of a formi- 
dable ambuscade. Colonel St. Leger, it appeared, 
having heard of the advance of General Herkimer, 
in order to prevent an attack in his intrenchments, 
had detached a division of Sir John Johnson's regi- 
ment of Greens, under Sir John's brother-in-law. 
Major Watts, Colo'nel Butler with his rangers, and 
Joseph Brant with a strong body of Indians, to inter- 
cept his approach. With true Indian sagacity, Tha- 
yendanega had selected a position admirably fitted 
for his purpose, which was to draw the Americans, 
whom he well knew to be approaching in no very 
good military array, into an ambuscade. The 
locality favored his design. There was a deep 
ravine crossing the path which Herkimer, with his 
undisciplined array, was traversing, "sweeping 
toward the east in a semicircular form, and bear- 
ing a northern and southern direction. The bottom 
of this ravine was marshy, and the road crossed 
it by means of a causeway. The ground, thus 
partly enclosed by the ravine, was elevated and 
level. The ambuscade was laid uj^on the high 
ground west of the ravine." 

The enemy had disposed himself adroitly, in a 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 129 

circle, leaving only a narrow segment open for the 
admission of the ill-starred Provincials on their 
approach. The stratagem was successful. Uncon- 
scious of the presence of the foe, Herkimer, with 
his whole army, excepting the rear-guard, composed 
"of Colonel Yisscher's regiment, found himself en- 
compassed at the first fire, the enemy closing up 
the gap at the instant of making himself known. 
By thus early completing the circle, the baggage 
and ammunition wagons, which had just descended 
into the ravine, were cut off and separated from the 
main body, as also was the regiment of Colonel 
Yisscher, yet on the eastern side of the ravine ; 
which, as their general had predicted, instantly and 
ingloriously fled, leaving their companions to their 
fate. They were pursued, however, by a portion of 
the Indians, and suffered more severely, probably, 
than they would have done had they stood by their 
fellows in the hour of need, either to conquer or 
to Ml. 

Being thrown into irretrievable disorder, by the 
suddenness of the surprise and the destructiveness 
of the fire, which was close and brisk from every 
side, the division was . for a time threatened with 
aunihilation. At every opportunity, the savages, 



130 DAEING DEEDS 

concealed behind the trunks of trees, darted forward 
with knife and tomahawk to ensure the destruction 
of those who fell ; and many and fierce were the 
conflicts that ensued hand to hand. The veteran 
Herkimer fell, wounded, in the early part of the 
action, a musket ball ha^dng passed through and 
killed his horse, and shattered his own leg just 
below the knee. The general was placed upon his 
saddle, however, against the trunk of a tree for his 
support, and thus continued to order the battle. 
Colonel Cox, and Captains Davis and Van Shiyck, 
were severally killed near the commencement of 
the engagement ; and the slaughter of their broken 
ranks, from the rifles of the Tories and the spears 
and tomahawks of the Indians, was dreadful. But 
even in this deplorable situation, the wounded 
general, his men dropping like leaves around him, 
and the forest resounding with the horrid yells of 
the savages, ringing high and wild over the din of 
battle, behaved with the most perfect firmness and 
composure. The action had lasted about forty-five 
minutes, in great disorder, before the Provincials 
formed themselves into circles in order to repel 
the attacks of the enemy, who were concentrating, 
and closing in uj)on them from all sides. From 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 131 

this moment the resistance of the Provincials was 
more effective, and the enemy attempted to charge 
with the bayonet. The firing ceased for a time, 
excepting the scattering discharges of musketry 
from the Indians ; and as the bayonets crossed, 
the contest became a death strnggle, hand to hand, 
and foot to foot, ^ever, however, did brave men 
stand a charge with more dauntless courage, and 
the enemy for the moment seemed to recoil — just 
at the instant when the work of death was arrested 
by a heavy shower of rain, which suddenly broke 
upon the com]jatants with great fury. The storm 
raged for upward of an hour, during which time 
the enemy sought such shelter as might be found 
among the trees at a respectful distance ; for they 
had already suffered severely, notwithstanding the 
advantages in their favor. 

During this suspension of the battle, both parties 
had time to look about, and make such new dispo- 
sitions as they pleased for attack and defence, on 
renewing the murderous conflict. The Provincials, 
under the direction of their general, were so fortu- 
nate as to take possession of an advantageous ]3iece 
of ground, upon which his men formed themselves 
into a circle, and, as the shower broke away, awaited 



132 BAKING DEEDS 

the movements of the enemy. In the early part of 
the battle, the Indians whenever they saw a gun 
fired by a militiaman from behind a tree rushed 
upon and tomahawked him before he could re-load. 
In order to counteract this mode of warfare, two 
men were stationed behind a single tree, one only 
to fire at a time, the other reserving his fire until 
the Indians ran up as before. The fight was 
presently renewed, and by the new arrangement, 
and the cool execution done by the fire of the 
militia forming the main circle, the Indians were 
made to sufier severely; so much so, Ijiat they began 
to give way, w^hen Major Watts came up with a 
re-enforcement, consisting of another detachment of 
Johnson's Greens. These men were mostly Loyal- 
ists, who had fled from Tryon county, now returned 
in arms as^ainst their former neighbors. As no 
quarrels are so bitter as those of families, so no 
wars are so cruel and passionate as those called 
civil. Many of the Provincials and Greens were 
known to each other; and as they advanced so 
near as to afford opportunities of mutual recog- 
nition, the contest became, if possible, more of a 
death struggle than before. Mutual resentments and 
feelings of hate and revenge, raged in their bosoms. 



OF AMEKICAN HEROES. 133 

The Provincials fired upon them as they advanced, 
and then springing like chafed tigers from their 
covers, attacked them with their bayonets and the 
butts of their muskets, or both parties, in closer 
contact, throttled each other and drew their knives ; 
stabbing, and sometimes literally dying in one 
another's embrace. 

At length a firing was heard in the distance from 
the fort, a sound as welcome to the Provincials as 
it was astounding to the enemy. Availing them 
selves of the hint, however, a ricse-de-guerre was 
attempted by Colonel Butler, which had well nigh 
proved fatal. It was the sending, suddenly, from 
the direction of the fort, a detachment of the 
Greens disguised as American troops, in the ex- 
])ectation that they might be received as a timely 
re-enforcement from the garrison. Lieutenant Jacob 
Sammons was the first to descry their approach, in 
the direction of a body of men commanded by 
Captain Jacob Gardenier, an officer who, during 
that memorable day, performed prodigies of valor. 
Perceiving that their hats were American, Sammons 
informed Captain Gardenier that succors from the 
fort were coming up. The quick eye of the captain 
(detected the ruse^ and he replied, " Kot so : they 



134: DAEING DEEDS 

are enemies : don't jou see their green coats !' 
They continued to advance until hailed by Garde- 
nier ; at which moment one of his own soldiers, 
observing an acquaintance, and supposing him a 
friend, ran to meet him, and presented his hand. 
It was grasped, but with no friendly gripe, as the 
credulous fellow was dragged into the opposing 
line, and informed that he was a prisoner. He 
did not yield without a struggle ; during which 
Gardenier, watching the action and the result, 
sprang forward, and with a blow from his spear 
levelled the captor to the dust and liberated his 
man. Others of the foe instantly set upon him, 
of whom he slew the second and wounded a third. 
Three of the disguised Greens now sprang upon 
him, and one of his spurs becoming entangled in 
their clothes, he was thrown to the ground. Still 
contending, however, with almost superhuman 
strength, both of his thighs were transfixed to the 
earth by the bayonets of two of his assailants, while 
the third presented a bayonet to his breast as if 
to thrust him through. Seizing this bayonet with 
his left hand, by a sudden wrench he brought its 
owner down upon himself, where he held him as a 
shield against the arms of the others, until one of 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 185 

his own men, Adam Miller, observing the struggle 
flew to his rescue. As the assailants turned upon 
their new adversary, Gardenier rose upon his seat ; 
and although his hand was severely lacerated by 
grasping the bayonet which had been drawn through 
it, seized his spear lying by his side, and, quick 
as lightning, planted it to the barb in the side of 
the assailant with whom he had been clinched. 
The man fell and expired, proving to be Lieutenant 
M'Donald, one of the Loyalist officers from Tryon 
county. All this occurred in far less time than is 
necessarily occupied by the relation. "While en- 
gaged in the struggle, some of his own men called 
out to Gardenier, " For God's sake. Captain, you 
are killing your own men ! " He replied, " They 
«ire not our men — they are the enemy — fire away !" 
A deadly fire from the Provincials ensued, during 
which about thirty of the Greens fell slain,* and 
mauy Indian warriors. The parties once more 
rushed upon each other with bayonet and spear, 
grappling and fighting with terrible fury ; while the 
shattering of shafts .and the clashing of steel min- 
gled with every dread sound of war and death, 
and the savage yells, more hideous than all, pre- 
sented a scene which can be more easily imagined 



13G DARING DEEDS 

tlian described. The unparalleled fortitude and 
bravery of Captain Gardenier infused fresb spirits 
into bis men, some of whom enacted wonders of 
valor likewise. It happened during the melee^ in 
which the contending parties were mingled in great 
confusion, that three of Johnson's Greens rushed 
within the circle of the Provincials, and attempted 
to make a prisoner of Captain Dillenback. This 
officer had declared he never would be taken alive, 
and he was not. One of his three assailants seized 
his gun, but he suddenly wrenched it from him, and 
felled him with the butt. He shot the second dead, 
and thrust the third through witli his bayonet. 
But, in the moment of his triumph, at an exploit of 
which even the mighty Hector, or either of the sons 
of Zeruiah might have been proud, a ball laid this 
brave man low in the dust. 

Such a conflict as this could not be continued 
long; and the Indians, perceiving with what ardor 
the Provincials maintained the fight, and finding 
their own number sadly diminished, now raised the 
retreating cry of " Oonah .^" and fled in every direc- 
tion, under the shouts and hurrahs of the surviving 
Provincials, and a shower of bullets. Finding, 
moreover, from the firing at the fort, that their 



CtV AMERICAN HESOEs. 137 

nrcsencG was necessary elsewhere, the Greens :ELnd 
Kangers now retreated precipitately, leaving the 
victoricas militia of Trjon county masters of tne 
field. 

Thus ended one of the severest, and, for the num- 
bers engaged, one of the most bloody battles of 
the Kevolutionary war. Though victorious, the loss 
of the Provincials was very heavy; and Tryon 
county long had reason to mourn that day. Colonel 
Paris was taken prisoner by the enemy, and after- 
ward mm-dered oy the Indians. Several other 
prisoners were aiso Idlled by the savages, after 
they had been brought into Colonel Butler's quar- 
ters, and, as it was said, by the colonePs own tacit 
consent, if not permission in terms. But the 
general character of that ofiicer forbids the impu- 
tation. Major Jonn Frey, of Colonel Block's regi- 
ment, was likewise wounded and taken ; and, to 
show the more tnan savage fury burning in the 
bosoms of the men brought into conflict on this occa- 
sion, the disgraceful fact may be added, that his 
own brother, who was in the British service, at- 
tempted to take his life, after he had arrived in 
Butler's camp. Tlie major saw his brother ap- 
proaching in a menacing manner, and called out, 



138 DARING- DEEDS 

" Brother.^ do not kill me ! do you not know me ?" 
But the infuriated brothei' rushed forward, and the 
major was only saved by the interposition of others. 
The whole number of the Provincial militia killed 
was 200, exclusive of the wounded and the lost as 
prisoners. 

Ketaining possession of the field, the survivors 
immediately set themselves to work in constructing 
rude litters, upon which to bear off the wounded. 
Between forty and fifty of these, among whom was 
the commanding general, were removed in this 
manner. The brave old man, notwithstanding the 
imprudence of the meaning — imj)rudence in allow- 
ing a premature movement at the dictation of his 
subordinates —-liad nobly vindicated his character 
for courage during the day. Though wounded, as 
we have seen, in the onset, he had borne himself 
during the six hours of conflict, under the most try- 
ing circumstances, with a degree of fortitude and 
eoniposure worthy of all admiration. ITor was his 
example without effect in sustaining his troops amid 
the perils by which they were environed. At one 
time during the battle, while sitting upon his sad- 
dle raised upon a little hillock, being advised to 
select a less exposed situation, he replied, ''I will 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 139 

Lace the enemy." Thus, "sir:roimded by a few 
men, lie continued to issue his orders with firmness. 
In this situation, and in the heat of the onslaught, 
he deliberately took his tinder-box from his pocket, 
lit his pipe, and smoked with great composure. '' 
At the moment the soldiers were placing him on 
the litter, while adjusting the blankets to the poles, 
three Indians approached, and were instantly shot 
down by the unerring rifles of three of the militia. 
These were the last shots fired in that battle. 

TTie loss of the enemy in this engagement was 
equal to, if not more severe than, that of the Ameri- 
cans. 



DEATH OF ge:n"ekal heekimek. 

General Herkimer did not long survive the battle 
of Oriskany. He was conveyed to his own house 
Qcar the Mohawk Eiver, a few miles below the 
Little Falls, where his leg, which had been shat- 
tered five or six inches below the knee, was ampu- 
tated about ten days after the battle, by a yoimg 
" 10 



140 DARING DEEDS 

French surgeon in tlie army of General Arnold, 
and contrary to the advice of the general's own 
medical adviser, the late Doctor Petrie. But the 
operation was unskillfully performed, and it was 
found impossible by his attendants to stanch the 
blood. Colonel Willett called to see the general 
soon after the operation. He was sitting up in his 
bed, with a pipe in his mouth, smoking, and talking 
in excellent spirits. He died the night following 
that visit. His friend, Colonel John Roff, was 
present at the amputation, and affirmed that he 
bore the operate, n with uncommon fortitude. He 
was likewise with him at the time of his death. 
The blood continuing to flow — there being no 
physician in immediate attendance — and being 
himself satisfied that the time of his departure was 
nigh, the veteran directed the Holy Bible to be 
brought to him. He then opened it and read, in 
the presence of those who surrounded his bed, with 
all the composure which it was possible for any 
man to exhibit, the thirty-eighth Psalm, applying 
it to his own situation. He soon afterward expired ; 
and it may well be questioned whether the annals 
of man furnish a more striking example of Christian 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 141 

heroism — calm, deliberate, and firm in the hour 
of death — than is presented in this remarkable 
instance. Of the early history of General Herkimer 
but little is known. It has been already stated 
that his family was one of the first of the Germans 
who planted themselves in the Mohawk Yalley ; 
and the massive stone mansion, yet standing at 
German Flatts, bespeaks its early opulence. He 
was an uneducated man, with, if possible, less skill 
in letters even than General Putnam, which is 
saying much. But he was, nevertheless, a man of 
strong and vigorous imderstanding, destitute of some 
of the essential requisites of generalship, but of the 
most cool and dauntless courage. These traits were 
all strikingly disclosed in the brief and bloody ex- 
pedition to Oriskany. But he must have been well 
acquainted with that most important of all books — 
THE Bible. ]^or could the most learned biblical 
scholar, lay or clerical, have selected a portion of 
the sacred Scriptures more exactly appropriate to 
the situation of the dying soldier than that to which 
he himself spontaneously turned. If Socrates died 
like a philosopher, and Rousseau like an unbelieving 
sentimentalist. General Herkimer died like a 



142 DARING DEEDS 

Christian Hero* Congress passed a resolution re 
questing the Governor and Council of JSTew York 
to erect a monument, at the expense of the United 
States, to the memorj of this brave man, of the 
value of $500. This resolution was transmitted 
to the Governor of ISTew York, George Clinton, 
in a letter, from which the following passage is 
quoted : " Every mark of distinction shown to the 
memorj of such illustrious men as offer up their 
lives for the liberty and happiness of their country, 
reflects real honor on those who pay the tribute ; 
and, by holding up to others tlie prospect of fame 
and immortality, will animate them to tread in the 
same path." Governor Clinton thus wrote to the 
committee of Tryon county on the occasion : " En- 
closed you have a letter and resolves of Congress 
for erecting a monument to the memory of your 
late gallant general. "While with you I lament the 
cause, I am impressed with a due sense of the great 
and justly merited honor the continent has, in this 
instance, paid to the memory of that brave man." 
Such were the feelings of respect for the services 
and memory of the deceased entertained by the 
great men of that day. Sixty years have since 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 143 

rolled away, and the journal of Congress is the 
only monument, and the resolution itself the only 
inscription, which as yet testify the gratitude of 
the Kepublic to General Nicholas Herkimer. 



CHAPTER IV.— 171 B. 



maeio:n', the eepublioan gei^eral. 

We received, says liis biographer, a flag from 
the enemy in Georgetown, S. C., the object of 
which was to make some arrangements about the 
exchange of prisoners. The flag, after the usual 
ceremony of blindfolding, was conducted into 
Marion's encampment. "When led into Marion's 
presence, and the bandage taken from his eyes, he 
beheld in our hero a swarthy, smoke dried little 
man, with scarcely enough of threadbare homespun 
to cover his nakedness ! and, instead of tall ranks 
of gaily-dressed soldiers, a handful of sun-burnt 
yellow legged militia-men, some roasting potatoes, 
and some asleep, with their black firelocko and 
powder-horns lying by them on the logs. ERving 
recovered a little from his surprise, he pref<*nted 
his letter to General Marion, who perused it and 
soon settled every thing to his satisfaction. 



OF AMERICAN HEKOES. 1^ 

The officer took up his hat to retire. — " Oh no ! " 
fct.id Marion, "it is now about our time of dining; 
and I hope, sir, joii will give us the pleasure of 
your company to dinner." 

At the mention of the word dinner^ the British 
officer looked around him, but, to his great morti- 
fication, could see no sign of a pot, pan, Dutch 
oven, or any other cooking utensil, that could raise 
the spirits of a himgry man. 

" Well, Tom," said the general to one of his 
men, " come, give us our dinner." — The dinner to 
which he alluded was no other than a heap of 
eweet potatoes, that were very snugly roasting 
linder the embers, and which Tom, with his pine 
«tick poker, soon liberated from their ashy confine- 
ment, pinching them every now and then with his 
fingers, especially the big ones, to see whether they 
^ere well done or not. Then having cleansed them 
jf the ashes, partly by blowing them with his 
breath, and partly by brushing them with the 
eleeve of his old cotton shirt, he piled some of the 
best on a large piece of bark, and placed them be- 
tween the British officer and Marion, on the trunk 
of the fallen pine on which they sat. 

"I fear, sir" said the general, "our dinner will 



146 DARING DEEDS. 

not prove so palatable to you as I could wisli — 
but it is the best we have." The officer who wa3> 
a well bred man, took up one of the potatoes, and 
affected to feed, as if he had found a great dainty, 
but it was very plain that he ate more from good 
manners than good appetite. 

Presently he broke out into a hearty laugh : 
Marion looked surprised — "I beg pardon, general,'' 
said he, '' but one cannot, you know, always com 
mand one's conceits. I was thinkinsf how droll 

o 

some of my brother officers would look, if our 
government were to give them such a bill of fare 
as this." 

" 1 suppose," said Marion, " it is not equal to 
their style of dining?" "I^o, indeed," quoth the 
officer ; " and this, I imagine, is one of your acci- 
dental Lent dinners — a sort of Ian yan y in gene- 
ral, no doubt, you live a great deal better ? " 
" Rather worse," answered the general, " for often 
we do not get enough of this." " Heavens ! " re- 
joined the officer, " but, probably what you lose 
in meal you make up in malt — though stinted in 
provisions, you draw noble pay." " I^ot a cent, 
sir," said Marion, "not a cent." "Heavens and 
earth ! then you must be in a bad box ; I don't 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 14:7 

see, general, liow you can stand it." "Why, sir," 
replied Marion with a smile of self approbation, 
" these things depend on feeling." The Englishman 
said, '4ie did not believe it would be an easy 
matter to reconcile his feelings to a soldier's life 
on General Marion's terms — all fighting, no pay, 
and no provisions but potatoes." 

"Why sir," answered the general, " the heart 
is all ; and when that is much interested, a man 
can do anything. Many a youth would think it 
hard to indent himself a slave for fourteen years ; 
but let him be over head and ears in love, and 
with such a beauteous sweetheart as Rachel, and 
he will think no more of fourteen years' servitude 
than young Jacob did. Well, now this is exactly 
my case — I am in love, and my sweetheart is 
Liberty: be that heavenly nymph my champion, 
and these woods shall have charms beyond London 
and Paris in slavery. To have no proud monarch 
driving over me with his gilt coaches — nor his host 
of excisemen and tax-gatherers insulting and rob- 
bing : but to be my own master, my own prince and 
sovereign — gloriously preserving my national dig- 
nity, and pursuing my true happiness — planting 
my vineyards, and eating their luscious fruit ; sowing 



148 O&KING DEEDS 

my fields, and tcJ^^ping the golden grain ; and seeing 
millions of bro:l\ers all aromid me equally free and 
happy as myself. This sir, is what I long for." 

The officer replied, that both as a man and a 
Briton, he must certainly subscribe to this as a 
happy state of things. 

" Happy," quoth Marion, " yes, bappy, indeed ; 
and I would rather fight for such blessings for my 
country, and feed on roots, than keep aloof, though 
wallowing in all the luxuries of Solomon ; for now, 
sir, I walk the soil that gave me birth, and exult 
in the thought that I am not unworthy of it. I 
look upon these venerable trees around me, and 
feel that I do not dishonor them — I think of my 
own sacred rights, and rejoice that I have not 
basely deserted them. And, when I look forward 
to the long, long ages of posterity, I glory in the 
thought that I am fighting their battles. The chil- 
dren of distant generations may never hear my 
name, but still it gladdens my heart to think that 
I am now contending for their freedom, with all 
its countless blessings." 

I looked at Marion as he uttered these sentiments, 
and fancied I felt as when I heard the last words 
of the brave De Kalb; the Englishman hung bis 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 149 

i jnest Lead, and looked, I thoiiglit, as if lie had 
Been the upbraiding ghosts of his illustrious country- 
men, Sidney and Hampden. 

On his return to Georgetown he was asked by 
Colonel Watson, why he looked so serious ? " I have 
cause, sir," said he, "to look so serious." "What! 
has General Marion, refused to treat ? " " ITo, sir. " 
" Well then, has old Washington defeated Sir Henry 
Clinton, and broke up our army ? " " ISTo, sir, not 
that either: but worse." ''Ah! what can be 
worse ? " " Why, sir, I have seen an American 
general and his officers without pay, almost without 
clothes, living on roots, and drinking water, and 
all for Liberty ! What chance have we against 
Buch men. ' 



PUTNAM'S FEAT 



About ihe middle of winter, while General Put- 
nam was on a visit to his out-post at Horse-lSTeck 
he found. Governor Tryon advancing upon that town 
with a corps of 1500 men. To oppose these General 



150 DARING DEEDS 

K utnam had only a picqnet of 150 men, and two 
iron field-pieces, without horses or drag-ropes. He, 
however, x^lanted his cannon on the high ground, 
by the meeting-house, and retarded theu' approach 
by firing several times, until, perceiving the horse 
(supported by the infantry) about to charge, ho 
ordered the picrpiet to provide for tlieir safety, by 
retiring to a swamp inaccessible to horse, and se- 
cured liis own by plunging down tlie steep precipice 
at the cliurch upon a full trot. This precipice is so 
steep, where he descended, as to have artificial stairs, 
composed of nearly one hundred stone steins, for the 
accommodation of foot passengers. There tlie dra- 
goons, who were but a sword's length from him, 
stopped short ; for the declivity was so abrupt that 
they ventured not to follow ; and, before they could 
gain the valley, by going round the brow of the hill 
in the ordinary road, he was far enough beyond their 
reach. He continued his route, unmolested, to Stan- 
ford; from whence, having strengthened his picquet 
by the junction of some militia, he came back again, 
and, in turn, pursued Governor Tryon in his retreat . 
As he rode down the precipice, one ball, of the 
many fired at him, went through his beaver: but 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 151 

Governor Tiyoii, by way of compensation for spoil- 
ing his hat, sent him, soon afterward, as a present, 
a complete suit of clothes. 



DEATH OF CAPTArN" BIDDLE. 

On the night of the 7th March, 1778, the fatal 
accident occurred, which terminated the life of this 
excellent officer. For some days previously he 
had expected an attack. Captain Blake, a brave 
officer, who commanded a detachment of the second 
South Carolina Regiment, serving as marines on 
board the General Moultrie, and to whom we are 
indebted for several of the ensuing particulars, 
dined on board the Randolph two days before the 
engagement. At dinner, Captain Biddle said, 
"We have been cruising here for some time, and 
have spoken a number of vessels, who will no doubt 
give information of us, and I should not be sur- 
prised if my old ship should be out after us. As 
to any thing that carries her guns upon deck, I 
think mvself a match for her." About three P. M. 



i52 BAKING DEEDS 

of the 7tli of March, a signal was made from the 
Randolph for a sail to windward, in consequence 
of which the squadron hauled upon a wind, in or- 
der to speak her. It was four o'clock before she 
could be distinctly seen, when she was discovered 
to be a ship, though as she neared and came before 
the wind, she had the appearance of a large sloop 
with only a square-sail set. About seven o'clock, 
the Randolph being to windward, hove to ; the 
Moultrie, being about 150 yards astern, and rather 
to leeward, also hove to. About eight o'clock the 
British ship fired a shot just ahead of the Moultrie, 
and hailed her ; the answer was, " the Polly, of 
]N^ew York ; " upon which she immediately hauled 
her wind, and hailed the Randolph. She was then, 
for the first time, discovered to be a two-decker. 
After several questions had been asked and an- 
swered, as she was ranging up alongside the Ran- 
dolph, and had got on her weather quarter^ 
Lieutenant Barnes, of that ship called out, " This 
is the Randolph," and she immediately hoisted her 
colors, and gave the enemy a broadside. Shortly 
after the action commenced. Captain Biddle re- 
ceived a wound in the thigh, and fell. This occa- 
sioned some confusion, as it was at first thought 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 153 

'. dat he was killed. He soon, however, ordeied a 
chair to be brought, said that he was only slightly- 
wounded, and being carried forward encouraged 
the crew. The stern of the enemy's ship being 
clear of the Randolph, the Captain of the Moultrie 
gave orders to fire, but the enemy having shot 
ahead, so as to bring the Randolph between them, 
the last broadside of the Moultrie went into the 
Randolph, and it was thought by one of the men 
saved, who was stationed on the quarter-deck near 
Captain Riddle, that he was wounded by a shot 
from the Moultrie. The fire from the Randolph 
was constant and well directed. She fired nearly 
three broadsides to the enemy's one, and she ap- 
peared, while the battle lasted, to be in a continual 
blaze. In about twenty minutes after the action 
began, and while the surgeon was examining Cap- 
tain Riddle's wound on the quarter-deck, the Ran- 
dolph blew up. 

The enemy's vessel was the British ship 
Yarmouth, of sixty-four guns, commanded by 
Captain Yincent. So closely were they engaged, 
that Captain Morgan, of the Fair American, and 
all his crew, thought that it was the enemy's ship 
that had blown up. He stood for the Yarmouth, 



154: DARING DEEDS 

jiud bad a trumpet in liis hand, to hail and inquire 
how Captain Biddle was, when he discovered his 
mistake. Owing to the disabled condition of the 
Yarmouth, the other vessels escaped. 

The cause of the explosion was never ascertained, 
but it is remarkable that just before she sailed, after 
the clerk had copied the signals and orders for the 
armed vessels that accompanied him, he wrote at 
the foot of them, 'In case of coming to action in 
the night be very careful of your magazines.' The 
number of persons on board the Randolph was 315, 
who all perished except four men, who were tossed 
about for four days on a piece of the wreck before 
they were discovered and taken up. From the 
information of two of these men, who were after- 
ward in Philadelphia, and of some individuals in 
the other vessels of the squadron, we have been 
enabled to state some particulars of this unfortunate 
event, in addition to the accounts given of it bv 
Dr. Eamsay in his History of the American 
Revolution, and in his History of the Revolution 
of South Carolina. In the former work, the histo- 
rian thus concludes his account of the action 
* Captain Biddle, who perished on board the Ran 
dolph, was universally lamented. He was in the 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. ^ 155 

prime of life, and had excited high expectations 
of future usefuhiess to his country, as a bold and 
ekillful naval officer.' 

Thus prematurely fell, at the age of twendy-seven, 
as gallant an officer as any country ever boasted 
of. In the short career which Providence allowed 
to him, he displayed all those qualities which con- 
stitute a great soldier — brave he was to excess, 
and consummately skilled in his profession. 



BATTLE OF MOJSTMOUTH. 

At the opening of the campaign in 1778, General 
Howe went to England, and left the command to 
Sir Henry Clinton. In June, the British army 
left Philadelphia, and marched toward Staten 
Island. In their march they were annoyed by the 
Americans ; and on the 28th of June, a division of 
the army, under General Lee, was ordered, if pos- 
sible, to bring them to an engagement. Soon after 
the British had left the heights of Freehold, General 
Lee was on the same ground, and followed them 



156 ^ DARING DEEDS 

into the plain. "While he was advancing to recon- 
noitre the enemy in person, Sir Henry Clinton 
marched back his whole rear division to attack the 
Americans. "While Lee made a feint of retreating, 
in order to draw the British after him, one of his 
officers. General Scott, who had under him the 
greater part of General Lee's force, misunderstood 
his orders, and actually retreated. This obliged 
Lee to follow, until he could overtake him, the 
army hanging upon his rear. In this situation he 
was met by General "Washington, who, riding up 
to General Lee, addressed him in terms that im- 
plied censure. Lee answered with warmth and 
disrespectful language. General "Washington led 
the troops in person, and a smart action took place, 
in w^hich both parties claimed the victory, but the 
advantage was clearly on the side of the Americans. 
The loss in killed and wounded amounted to 300 
or 400, on each side ; but the British left the field 
of battle in the night, and pursued their retreat. 
This battle lasted through the whole of one of the 
warmest days of summer, the mercury being above 
ninety degrees by Fahrenheit's scale. Many of 
the soldiers died on the spot, by heat, fatigue, oi 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. t57 

di-inking cold water. General Lee was tried by a 
court martial for disobedience, and bis command 
suspended for one year. 



GENEKAL LEE. 



General Lee was remarkably slovenly in Ins 
dress and manners ; and has often, by the mean- 
ness of bis appearance, been subject to ridicule and 
insult. He was once attended by General Wash- 
ington to a place distant from the camp. Hiding 
on, he arrived at the house where they were to 
dine, sometime before the rest of the company. 
He went directly to the kitchen, demanding some- 
thing to eat, when the cook, taking him for a 
servant, told him she would give him some victuals 
in a moment — but he must help her off with the 
pot. This he complied with, and sat down to some 
cold meat, which she had placed before him on 
the dresser. The girl was remarkably inquisitive 
about the guests who were coming, particularly of 
Lee, who she said she had heard was one of the 



158 DARING DEEDS 

o(ict\5t and ugliest mon in the world. In a few 
mcments, she desired the general again to assist 
her in placing on the pot, and scarcely had he 
finished, when she requested him to take a bucket 
and go to the wfJl. Lee made no objections and 
began drawing water. In the meantime, General 
Washington arrived, and an aid-de-camp was des- 
patched in search of Lee ; whom, to his surprise, 
he found engaged as above. But what was the 
confusion of the poor girl on hearing the aid-de- 
camp address the man with the title of general. 
The mug fell from her hands, and dropping on her 
knees, she began crying for pardon ; when Lee, 
who was ever ready to see the impropriety of his 
own conduct, but never willing to change it, gave 
her a crown, and turning to his aid-de-camp ob- 
served, " You see, young man, the advantage of a 
fine coat — the man of consequence is indebted to 
it for respect — neither virtue nor abilities without 
it, will make you look like a gentleman." 



FADL JONES' l^AYAL BATTLE 

On the 22d of September, 1778, occnrred on tlie 
coast of Scotland, " that jinexampled sea-fight, " 
which gave to the name of Panl Jones such terrific 
eclat. This man was a native of Scotland, but 
engaged in the service of the United States. His 
flotilla was composed of the Bonhomme Richard, 
of forty gims, the Alliance of thirty-six, (both 
American ships,) the Pallas, a French frigate of 
thirty-two, in the pay of Congress, and two other 
smaller vessels. lie fell in with a British merchant 
fleet, on its return from the Baltic, convoyed by 
Captain Pearson, with the frigate Serapis, of forty 
four guns, and the Countess of Scarborough, of 
twenty. 

Pearson had no sooner perceived Jones, than he 
bore down to engage him, while the merchant men 
endeavored to gain the coast. The American flotilla 
formed to receive him. The two enemies jomed 
battle about seven in the evening. The British 



160 DARING DEEDS 

liaving the advantage of cannon of a longer re^icb, 
Paul Jones resolved to fight them closer. He 
brought up his ships, until the muzzles of his 
guns came in contact with those of his enemy. 
Here the phrenzied combatants fought from seven 
till ten. Paul Jones now found that his vessel 
was so shattered that only three effective guns 
remained. Trusting no longer to these, he assailed 
his enemy with grenades ; which falling into the 
Serapis, set her on fire in several places. At length 
her magazine blew up, and killed all near it. Pear- 
son, enraged at his oflScers, who wished him to 
surrender, commanded them to board. Paul Jones, 
at the head of his crew, received them at the point 
of the pike , and they retreated. But the flames 
of the Serapis had communicated to her enemy, 
and the vessel of Jones was on fire. Amidst this 
tremendous night-scene, the American frigate Alli- 
ance came up, mistaking her partner for her enemy, 
fired a broadside into the vessel of Jones. By the 
broad glare of the burning ships, she discovered 
her mistake, and turned her guns against her ei- 
hausted foe. Pearson's crew were killed or wounded, 
his artillery dismounted, and his vessel on fire, 
and he could no longer resist. The flames of the 



OF ^MEEICAN HEROES. 361 

Serapis were, however, arrested; but the leaks of 
the Goodman Eichard could not be stopped, and 
the hulk went down soon after the mangled remains 
of th(^ crew had been removed. Of the 375 who 
were on board that renowned vessel, only sixty- 
eight left it alive. The Pallas had captured the 
Countess of Scarborough ; and Jones, after this 
horrible victory, wandered with his shattered, un- 
manageable vessels, for some time ; and at length, 
on fhe 6th of October, had the good fortune to find 
his way to the waters of the Texel. 



EJ^CAMPMENT AT YALLEY FOEGE. 

The American encampment at Yalley Forge 

during the severe winter of 17Y7-8, presented a 

spectacle for which the pen of History never drew 

a parallel. A large army was there concentrated, 

whose naked foot-prints in the snow, converging to 

that bleak hill-side, were often marked with blood. 

Absolute Destitution there held high court; and 

never was the chivalric heroism of patient suiFering 
8 



1G2 BAKING DEEDS 

more tangibly manifested tlian was exhibited 5}^ 
that j)^triot band within those frail log hnts 1 lat 
barely covered them from the falling snow, or 
sheltered them from the keen wintry blasts. Many 
were utterly without snoes or stockings, and nearly 
naked, obliged to sit night after night shivering 
romid tlieir fires in qnest of the comforts of heat, 
instead of taking that needful rej)Ose which nature 
craves. Hunger also became a resident tormentor, 
for the prevalence of torjasm in the vicinage ; the 
avarice of commissaries, the tardy movements of 
Congress in supplying provisions, and the close 
proximity of a powerful enemy, combined to make 
the procurement of provisions absolutely -im])racti- 
cable without a resort to force. But few horses 
were in the camp ; and such was the deficiency in 
this respect for the ordinary, as well as extraordi- 
nary occasions of the army, that the men in many 
instances cheerfully yoked themselves to vehicles of 
their own construction, for carrying wood and pro- 
visions when procured; while others performed the 
duty of pack-horses, and carried heavy burdens of 
fuel upon their backs. Yet amid all this suffer- 
ing day after day, surrounded by frost and snow, 
patriotism was still v/arm and hopeful in the hearts 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 163 

of the soldiers, and the love of self was merged 
into the one great sentiment, love of country. 
Although a few feeble notes of discontent were 
heard, and symptoms of an intention to abandon 
the cause were visible, yet the great body of that 
suffering phalanx were content to wait for the 
budding spring, and be ready to enter anew upon 
the fields of strife for the cause of freedom. Un- 
provided with materials to raise their beds from 
the cold ground, the dampness occasioned sickness 
and death to rage among them to an astonishing 
degree. " Indeed, nothing could surpass their 
suffering, except the patience and fortitude with 
which it was endured by the faithful part of the 
army." Amid all this distress, in the neighborhood 
of a powerful British army, fearless of its numbers 
and strength, and licentiousness, a striking proof 
of their intrepidity in suffering was exhibited by 
the Americans. 



COLOKEL GEOEGE K. CLAKKE. 

Connected with the Indian operations of th« 
summer of 1778, was one distinguished by tht 
boldness of its conception and the brilliancy of ita 
execution. The increasing hostility of the remote 
tribes upon the waters of the Mississippi and its 
tributaries had induced a belief that a powerful in- 
fluence must have been exerted upon their minds 
by the settlements planted long before at Kaskas- 
kias, and in the country of the Upper Mississippi, 
by the French, in connection with Canada. For 
the purpose of striking at once at the root of the 
evil, an expedition was organized early in the 
season, the object of which was to invade and take 
possession of those settlements. The command 
was intrusted to Colonel George Kogers Clarke, of 
Virginia, a bold and experienced border officer ; and 
his whole force, destined to penetrate twelve hun- 
dred miles through a wilderness, which was, in fact, 
the enemy's country, did not exceed 200 men. The 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 1 . 

rendezvous of this little army was at the Great 
Kanhawa, where they were attacked by a superior 
Indian force before their embarcation. But, finding 
they were not able to make any impression upon 
the fort, the assailants drew ofi*, having killed but 
one man and wounded one or two more. Descen- 
ding to the falls of the Ohio, a small fort was 
erected at that place, in which a garrison was left 
of ten or twelve families. Arriving within about 
sixty miles of the mouth of the Ohio, the troops 
were landed, and, with only four days' provisions, 
marched for the Illinois. They reached the pre- 
cincts of Kaskaskias at midnight on the sixth day, 
having marched two days without food, and deter- 
mined forthwith, and unanimously, to take the town 
or die in the attempt. The town was strongly for- 
tified, and contained about 250 well built houses ; 
but the approach of the invaders was unknown ; 
the people and the garrison were alike slumbering 
in security; and both town and fort were taken, 
the latter being carried by surprise, although the 
defences were sufficiently strong to resist 1000 
men. The commanding officer, Philip Eocheblave, 
was made prisoner ; and among his papers, falling 
into the hands of Colonel Clarke, were the 



166 BAKING DEEDS 

instructions which he had from time to time received 
from the British governors of Quebec, Detroit, and 
Michilimackinack, urging him to stimulate the In- 
dians to war by the proffer of large bounties for 
scalps, llocheblave was sent a prisoner to Wil- 
liamsburg, in Yirginia, and with him were sent the 
papers taken from his portfolio. 

On the day after the fall of Kaskaskias, Captain 
Joseph Bowman, at the head of thirty mounted 
men, was sent to attack three other towns upon the 
Mississippi, the first of which, called Parraderuski, 
distant fifteen miles from Kaskaskias, was surprised, 
and taken without opposition, the inhabitants at 
once assenting to the terms of the conqueror. The 
next town was St. Philip's, distant nine miles 
farther up. The force of Captain Bowman was so 
small, that he wisely determined to make a descent 
upon St. Philip's in the night, that his strength, or, 
rather, his weakness, might be concealed. The 
precaution ensured success; and the inhabitants 
with whom the whole negotiation was conducted 
in the night, acceded to the terms prescribed. 
From St. Philip's, Captain Bowman directed his 
course upon the yet more considerable t-own of 
Cauhow, distant between forty and fifty miles. This 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 167 

town contained about 100 families, and was also 
approached secretl^f, and entered in tLe niglit. 
Captain Bowman, with his troop, rode directly to 
t]ie quarters of the commander, and demanded the 
surrender of himself and the whole tow^n, which 
was immediately complied with. Taking posses- 
sion of a large stone house, well fortified, the 
" bold dragoon '' immediately established his quar- 
ters therein, and awaited the morning's dawn, 
which would disclose to the people the diminutive 
force to which they had surrendered. Enraged at 
the discovery, one of the enemy threatened to bring 
a body of 150 Indians against the little American 
squadron, and cut them off. But he was secured, 
and in the course of ten days upward of 300 of 
the inhabitants became so reconciled to their change 
of masters as to take the oath of allegiance to 
the United States. Leaving a small guard at 
Cauhow, Captain Bowman returned to Kaskaskias. 



AFFAIES AT SCIIOHAEIE. 

The enemy on the E"ew York frontiers were by 
no means inactive. A large band of Indians and 
Tories, under the conduct of Brant and Barent 
Frey, broke into the district at the close of May 
and inflicted no small degree of damage, by the 
destruction of both life and property. They were 
met by Captain Patrick, belonging to Colonel 
Alden's regiment, and a handful of troops, who 
were entirely cut to pieces. Captain Patrick fell 
early in the engagement. His lieutenant, a corpo- 
ral, and nineteen men, were also killed. The com- 
mand then devolved upon a sergeant, who fought 
bravely, as all had done. They were surrounded 
by a force greatly superior in numbers, and but 
four men, exclusive of the sergeant, escaped, all 
wounded. The bodies of Patrick and his lieutenant 
were shocki^igly mutilated. A portion of the set- 
tlement was burned, and the settlement of Turlof k, 
in the same vicinity, was also ravaged. 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 169 

Tlie people of Schoharie had suffered severely 
from the scouts and scalping parties of the enemy 
during the summer, but their bravery in individual 
contests had amply avenged their wrongs. On one 
occasion a party of seven Indians made prisoner 
of a Mr. Sawyer, whom they bound and marched 
off into the wilderness. Having proceeded eight or 
ten miles, they laid themselves down to sleep for 
the night. But their prisoner had been less ef- 
fectually secured than they supposed. In the course 
of the night he succeeded in disengaging his hands, 
and cautiously taking a hatchet from the girdle of 
one of the Indians, he despatched six of them in 
rapid succession, and wounded the seventh, who 
made his escape. Having thus relieved himself of 
his keepers. Sawyer returned home in safety, and 
at his leisure. 

Soon after the battle of Monmouth, Lieutenant- 
Colonel TVilliam Butler, with one of the Penn- 
sylvania regiments and a detachment of Morgan's 
riflemen, was ordered to the !N'orth, and stationed 
at Schoharie. Butler was a brave and experienced 
officer, especially qualified for the service upon 
which he was appointed. His arrival in Schoharie 

• had a salutary effect, by discouraging the disaffected 
8* 12 



170 DARING DEEDS 

and, by the presence of a stronger force than had 
yet been among them, establishing the confidence 
and reviving the spirits of the people. Several of 
his scouting parties also returned with good success. 
Attached to the rifle corps, under Captain Long, 
were several bold spirits, who signalized themselves 
so greatly in the partisan warfare in which they 
were engaged, that many of their exploits are 
freshly remembered among the j^nhabitants of Scho- 
harie to this day. Of this number were David 
Elerson, and a Yirginian named Murphy. The first 
expedition of Captain Long was directed to the 
valle}^ of the Charlotte River, one of the upper 
tributaries of the Susquehanna, flowing from the 
mountains south of Schoharie. The object was to 
arrest and bring to the fort a conspicuous Tory 
living upon that stream, named Service. His house 
being a point of rendezvous and supply for the 
Tory and Indian scouts, it was desirable that it 
should be broken up. While on his way to the 
place of destination, it was the good fortune of 
Captain Long to intercept a company of Tories, 
enlisted for the king's service, in the neighborhood 
of Catskill, by a Captain Smith, who were then on 
their way to join Sir John Johnson at Niagara. 



OF AilEKICAN HEROES. 171 

Smith was killed by the simultaneous shots of Eler 
son and his captain, they being a few rods in ad- 
vance at the moment w^hen the Tory leader emerged 
at the head of his men from a thicket. His follow- 
ers fled in every direction. They had intended to 
lodge that night with Service, but that unfortunate 
man had guests of quite another characfer. While 
unapprised of danger, his house was surrounded 
by the troops of Long, when in an instant Murphy 
and Elerson rushed in, and made him a prisoner. 
Having been informed that he must accompany 
them to Schoharie, on leaving his house he seized 
an axe standing by the door, which he poised, and 
directed for a blow at the head of Murphy. The 
latter was too quick-sighted to receive it ; but as he 
sprang aside to avoid the descending weapon. Ser- 
vice fell dead from the rifle of Elerson. 

After his term of enlistment had expired. Murphy 
remained in Schoharie, and made war on his own 
account. He was as remarkable for his fleetness 
as for his courage and great precision in firing. He 
used a double-barrelled rifle ; and the fact of his 
frequently firing twice in succession without stopping 
to load, and always bringing down his man, ren- 
dered him a terror to the Indians. ITot knowing 



172 DARING DEEDS 

the peculiar construction of his ritle, they were 
impressed with the belief that it was a charmed 
weapon, and supposed he could continue firing as 
long and as often as he pleased without loading at 
all. He fought the savages after their own fashion ; 
was more than their equal in stratagem or with 
his heels ; and, the greater the apparent danger he 
was encountering, the greater was his delight. 
AVhen he had opportunity, he took pattern of the 
Indians in scalping those who fell by his unerring 
aim ; and it was said that he killed forty of their 
warriors with his own hands. 



SEEGEANT JASPEK. 

The reader is already somewhat acquainted WiQi 
the name of William Jasper — perhaps Sergeant 
Jasper is the better known. This brave man pos- 
sessed remarkable talents for a scout. He could 
wear all disguises with admirable ease and dex 
terity. Garden styles him " a perfect Proteus. " 
He was equally remarkable for his cunning as for 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 173 

his braveiy ; and his nobleness and generosity were, 
quite as much as these, the distinguishing traits of 
his character. Such was the confidence in his 
fidelity and skill that a roving commission was 
granted him, with liberty to pick his associates 
from the Brigade. Of these he seldom chose more 
than six. "He often went out," says Moultrie, 
" and returned with prisoners, before I knew that 
he was gone. I have known of his catching a 
party that was looking for him. He has told me 
that he could have killed single men several times, 
but he would not ; he would rather let them get ofi*. 
fie went into the British lines at Savannah, as a 
deserter, complaining, at the same time, of our 
ill-usage of him ; he was gladly received (they 
having heard of his character) and caressed by 
them. He stayed eight days, and after informing 
himself well of their strength, situation and inten- 
tions, he returned to us again ; but that game he 
could not play a second time. With his little 
party he was always hovering about the enemy's 
camp, and was frequently bringing in prisoners." 
It was while in the exercise of his roving privileges 
that Jasper prepared to visit the post of the enemy 
at Ebenezer. At this post he had a brother, who 



1 74 DARING DEEDS 

held tlie same rank in the British service, that he 
hekl in the American. This instance was quite too 
common in the history of the period and comitrj", 
to occasion mnch surprise, or cause any suspicion 
of the integrity of either party. "We have ah-eady 
considered the causes for this mehmcholy difference 
of individual sentiment in the country, .and need 
not dwell upon them here. "William Jasper loved 
his brother and wished to see him : it is very 
certain, at the same time, that he did not deny 
himself the privilege of seeing all around him. The 
Tory was alarmed at William's appearance in the 
British camp, but the other quieted his fears, by 
representing himself as no longer an American 
soldier. He checked the joy which this declaration 
excited in his brother's mind, by assuring him that, 
though he found little encouragement in fighting 
for his country, " he had not the heart to fight 
against her." Our scout lingered for two or three 
days in the British camp, and then, by a detour^ 
regained that of the Americans ; reporting to his 
commander all that he had seen. He was encour- 
aged to repeat his visit a few weeks after, but this 
time he took with him a comrade, one Sergeant 
Newton, a fellow quite as brave in spirit, and 



OF AMERICAN HEEOEa. 175 

strong in body as himself. Here he was again 
well received by his brother, who entertained the 
guests kindly for several days. Meanwhile, a small 
party of Americans were brought into Ebenezer as 
captives, over whom hung the danger of " short 
shrift and sudden cord." They were on their way 
to Savannah for trial. They had taken arms with 
the British, as hundreds more had done, when the 
country was deemed reconquered ; but, on the 
approach of the American army, had rejoined 
their countrymen, and were now once more at the 
mercy of the power with which they had broken 
faith. " It will go hard with them," said the Tory 
Jasper to his Whig brother ; but the secret com- 
ment of the other was, " it shall go hard with me 
first." There was a woman, the wife of one of the 
prisoners, who, with her child, kept them company. 
William Jasper and his friend were touched by the 
spectacle of their distress ; and they conferred 
together, as soon as they were alone, as to the 
possibility of rescuing them. Their plan was soon 
adopted. It was a simple one, such as naturally 
suggests itself to a hardy and magnanimous char- 
acter. The prisoners had scarcely left the post for 
Savannah, under a guard of eight men, a sergeant 



176 DARING DEEDS 

and corporal, when Jasper and his friend dep^. -.ad 
also, thoiiffh in a different direction from the 
guard. Changing their course when secure from 
observation, they stretched across the country and 
followed the footsteps of the unhappy captives. But 
it was only in the pursuit that they became truly 
conscious of the difficulty, nay, seeming impossi- 
bility, of effecting their object. The guard was 
armed, and ten in number; they but two and 
weaponless. Hopeless, they nevertheless followed 
on. Two miles from Savannah there is a famous 
spring, the waters of which are well known to 
travelers. The conjecture that the guard might 
stop there, with the prisoners, for refreshment, 
suggested itself to our companions ; here, opportu- 
nities might occur for the rescue, which had no- 
v/liere before presented themselves. Taking an 
obscure path with which they were familiar, which 
led them to the spot before the enemy could arrive, 
they placed themselves in ambush in the imme- 
diate neighborhood of the spring. They had not 
long to wait. The conjecture proved correct. The 
guard was halted on the road opposite the spring. 
The corporal with four men conducted the captives 
to the water, while the sergeant, with the remainder 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 17T 

of his force, having made them ground their arms 
near the road, brought up the rear. The prisoners 
threw themselves npon the earth — the woman and 
her child, near its father. Little did any of them 
dream that deliverance was at hand. The child 
fell asleep in the mother's lap. Two of the armed 
men kept guard, but we may suppose with little 
caution. What had they to apprehend, within sight 
of a walled town in the possession of their friends ? 
Two others approached the spring, in order to bring 
water to the prisoners. Resting their muskets 
against a tree they proceeded to fill their canteens. 
At this moment Jasper gave the signal to his 
comrade. In an instant the muskets were in their 
hands. In another, they had shot down the two 
soldiers upon duty ; then clubbing their weapons, 
they rushed out upon the astonished enemy, and 
felling their first opponents each at a blow, they 
succeeded in obtaining possession of the loaded 
muskets. This decided the conflict, which was over 
in a few minutes. The surviving guard yielded 
themselves to mercy before the presented weapons. 
Such an achievement could only be successful from 
its audacity and the operation of circumstances. Tlie 
very proximity of Savannah increased the chances 



178 DARING DEEDS 

of success. But for tins the guard would have used 
better precautions. ISTone were taken. The prompt 
valor, the hold decision, the cool calculation of the 
instant, were the essential elements which secured 
success. The work of our young heroes was not 
done imperfectly. The prisoners w^ere quickly 
released, the arms of tlie captured British jiut into 
their hands, and, hurrying away from the spot 
which they have crowned with a local celebrity not 
soon to be forgotten, they crossed the Savannah in 
safety with their friends and foes. 



CHAPTEE v.— 1779. 



STOKMmG OF STOIS'Y POmT. 

Among the many exploits of gallantry and 
prowess which shed a luster on the fame of our Kev- 
olutionary army, the storming of the fort at Stony 
Point has always been considered one of the most 
brilliant. 

To General Wayne, who commanded the light 
infantry of the army, the execution of the plan was 
intrusted. Secrecy was deemed so much more 
essential to success than numbers, that it was 
thought unadvisable to add to the force already on 
the lines. One brigade was ordered to commence 
its march, so as to reach the scene of action in 
time to cover the troops engaged in the attack, in 
case of any unlooked for disaster ; and Major Lee, 
of the light dragoons, who had been eminently 
useful in obtaining the intelligence which led to 
the enterprise, was associated with General Wayne, 



180 DARINGDEEDS 

as far as cavalry could be employed in such a 
service. 

The night of the 15th of July, 1779, was fixed on 
for the assault ; and it being suspected that the 
garrison would probably be more on their guard 
toward day, twelve was chosen for the hour. 

Stony Point is a commanding hill, projecting far 
into the Hudson, which washes three-fourths of its 
base. The remaining fourth is, in a great measm'e, 
covered by a deep marsh, commencing near the 
river on the upper side, and continuing into it 
below. Over this mersh, there is only one crossing- 
place. But at its junction with the river is a snndy 
beach passable at low tide. On the summit of this 
hill was erected the fort, which was furnished with. 
a sufficient number of heavy pieces of ordnroice. 
Several breast-works and strong batteries were ad- 
vanced in front of the principal work, and fibout 
half way down the hill, were two rows of abbatis. 
The batteries were calculated to command the 
beach and the crossing-place of the marsh, and to 
rake and enfilade any column which might be ad- 
vancing from either of those points tow.'.rd the 
fort. In addition to these defences, several \essel3 
of war were stationed in the river, so as, iu a 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 181 

considerable degree, to command the gronnd at the 
foot of the hill. 

The fort was garrisoned by about 600 men, imder 
the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson. 

At noon of the day preceding the night of the 
attack, the light infantry commenced their march 
from Sandy Beach, distant fom^teen miles from 
Stony Point, and passing through an excessively 
rugged and mountainous country, arrived about 
eight in the afternoon at Spring Steel's, one and a 
half miles from the fort, where the dispositions for 
the assault were made. 

It was intended to attack the works on the right 
and left flanks at the same instant. The regiments 
of Febiger, and of Meiggs, with Major Hull's de- 
tachment, formed the right column, and Butler's 
regiment, w^ith two companies under Major Murfree, 
formed the left. One hundred and fifty volun- 
teers, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Fleury and Major 
Posey, constituted the right ; and 100 volunteers 
under Major Stewart, composed the left. At half 
past eleven, the two columns moved on to the 
charge, the van of each with imloaded muskets 
and fixed bayonets. They were each preceded by 
a forlorn hope of twenty men, the one commanded 



182 DAEING DEEDS 

by Lieutenant Gibbon, and* tlie otlier by Lieutenant 
Knox, wlioso duty it was to remove the abbatis 
and other obstructions, in order to open a passage 
for the columns which followed close in the rear. 

Proper measures having been taken to secure 
every individual on the route, who could give 
intelligence of their approach, the Americans 
reached the marsh undiscovered. But unexpected 
difficulties having been experienced in surmounting 
this and other obstructions in the way, the assault 
did not commence until twenty minutes after 
twelve. Both columns then rushed forward, under 
a tremendous fire of musketry and grape shot. 
Surmounting every obstacle, they entered the works 
at the point of the bayonet, and without having 
discharged a single piece, obtained complete pos- 
session of the post. 

The humanity displayed by the conquerors was 
not less conspicuous, nor less honorable, than their 
courage. I^ot a dngle individual suffered after 
resistance had ceased. 

All the troops engaged in this perilous service 
manifested a degree of ardor and impetuosity 
wliich proved them to be capable of the most 
ilirnciilt cntor])riscs ; and all distinguished themselves 





oEXLK vL WAYXE AT STONY TOTXT 



OF AMERICAN HEilOES. 183 

\iho,:C situation enabled them to do so. Colonel 
L'leurj was the first to enter the fort, and strike 
tiie British standard. Major Posey mounted the 
"works almost at the same instant, and was the first 
to give the watch-word — "The fort's our own." 
Lieutenants Gibbon and Knox performed the service 
allotted to them with a degree of intrepidity which 
could not be surpassed. Out of twenty men who 
constituted the party of the former, seventeen were 
killed o]' wounded. 

The loss sustained by the garrison was not con- 
siderable. The return made by Lieutenant-Colonel 
Johnson, represented their dead at only twenty, 
including one captain, and their wounded at six 
ofiicers and sixty-eight privates. The retm*n made 
by General Wayne states their dead at sixty-three, 
including two officers. This difference may be ac- 
counted for, by supposing, that among those Colonel 
Johnson supposed to be missing, there were many 
killed. The prisoners amounted to 543, amons^ 
whom were one lieutenant-colonel, four captains j 
and twenty subaltern officers. The military stores 
taken in the fort were also considerable. 

The loss sustained by the assailants was by no 
meaus proportioned to the ap])arent dan^jcr of the 



184 DARING DEEDS 

enterprise. The killed and wonnded did not exceed 
100 men. General Wayne himself, who marched 
at the hea-l of Febiger's regiment in the right 
column, received a slight wonnd in the head, which 
stunned him for a time, but did not compel him 
to leave the column. Eeing supported by his aids, 
he entered the fort with the regiment. Lieutenant- 
Colonel Hay was also among the wounded. 

The intrepidity, joined with humanity, its noblest 
companion, disj^layed on that occasion by the 
Pennsylvania Hero and his brave followers, cannot 
be too highly esteemed nor too frequently com 
memorated. 



COLONEL ISAAC HAYISTE. 

After the city of Charleston had fallen into the 
hands of Lord Cornwallis, his lordship issued a 
proclamation, requiring of the inhabitants of the 
colony, that they should no longer take part in the 
contest, but continue peaceably at their homes, and 
they should be most sacredly protected in property 



OF AMERICAN HEEOES. 185 

and person. This was acconrpanied with an instni 
■ment of neutrality, which soon obtained the signa- 
tures of many thousands of the citizens of South 
Carolina, among whom was Colonel Hayne, who 
now conceived that he was entitled to peace and 
security for his family and fortune. But it was not 
long before Cornwallis put a new construction on 
the instrument of neutrality denominating it a bond 
of allegiance to the King, and called upon all who 
signed it to take up arms against the Rebels! 
threatening to treat as deserters those who refused ! 
This fraudulent proceeding in Lord CornwalKs 
roused the indignation of every honorable and 
honest man. Colonel Hayne now being compelled 
in violation of the most solemn compact, to tako 
up arms, resolved that the invaders of his native 
country should be the objects of his vengeance. 
He withdrew from the British, and was invested 
with a command in the Continental service ; but it 
was soon his hard fortune to be captured by the 
enemy and carried to Charleston. Lord Rawdon, 
the commandant, immediately ordered him to be 
loaded with irons, and after a sort of mock trial, 
he was sentenced to be hung ! This sentence 
seized all classes of people with horror and dismay 



186 DARING DEEDS 

« 

A petition, headed by the British Governor, BulJ, 
and signed by a number of Royalists, was presented 
in his behalf, but was totally disregarded. The 
ladies 'of Charleston, both whigs and tories, now 
united in a petition to Lord Rawdon, couched in 
the most eloquent and moving language, praying 
that the valuable life of Colonel Hayne, might be 
spared; but this was treated with neglect. It was 
next proposed that Colonel Hayne's children (the 
mother had recently expired with the small pox,) 
should, in their mourning habiliments, be presented 
to plead for the life of their only surviving parent. 
Being introduced into his presence, they fell on 
their knees; with clasped hands and weeping eyes 
they lisped their father's name, and j)lead most 
earnestly for his life. His son, a youth of thirteen, 
was permitted to stay with his father in prison^ 
who, beholding his own parent loaded with irons 
and condemned to die, was overwhelmed with grief 
and sorrow. "Why," said he, "my son, will you 
thus break your father's heart with unavailing sor- 
row ? Have I not often told you that we came into 
this world but to prepare for a better? For that 
better life, my dear boy, your father is jprejpared. 
Instead then of weeping, rejoice with me, my son, 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 187 

that my troubles are so near an end. To-morrow, 
I set out for immortality. You will accompany me 
to tlie place of my execution, and when I am dead, 
take and bury me by the side of your mother." 
The youth here fell on his father's neck, " Oh, my 
father ! I will die with you ? " Colonel Hayne 
would have returned the strong embraces of bis 
son ; but alas ! his hands were confined with irons. 
"Live," said he, "my son, live to honor God by 
a good life; live to serve yom- country; and live 
to take care of your brother and little sisters ! " 
The next morning Colonel Hayne was conducted 
to the place of execution. His son accompanied 
him. Soon as they came in sight of the gallows, 
the fatlier strengthened himself, and said — " [N'ow, 
my son, show yourself a man! That tree is the 
boundary of my life^ and all my life's sorrows. 
Beyond that, the wicked cease from troubling and 
the weary are at rest. Don't lay too much to heart 
our separation from you : it will be but short. It 
was but lately your mother died. To day I die, 
and you, my son, though but young, must shortly 
follow us." " Yes, my father," replied the broken- 
hearted youth, "I shall shortly follow you; for 
indeed I feel that I cannot live long." 



i38 DAKINa DEEDS 

On seeing, therefore, his father in the hands of 
the executioner, and then struggling in the halter, 
he stood like one transfixed and motionless with 
horror. Till then he had wept incessantly, but soon 
as he saw that sight, the fountain of his tears was 
staunched,, and he never wept more. He died 
insane^ and in his last moments often called on 
the name of his father in terms that brought tears 
from the hardest hearts. 



INTEEPIDITY OF COLONEL WHITE. 

Just before the commencement of the siege of 
Savannah, in 1Y79, an enterprise was achieved by 
six Americans, remarkable for the address and 
daring intrepidity with which it was' planned and 
executed. Captain French, of the British army, 
with about 100 men, had taken post on the Ogee- 
chee river, where were also forty sailors on board 
of ^YQ British vessels, four of which were armed, 
the largest mounting fourteen guns. Colonel John 
"White, of the Georgia line, with Captain Elholm 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 189 

and four other persons, one of whom was the 
Colonel's servant, after kindling at ni^ht a number 
of fires, exhibiting the parade of a large encamp- 
ment, and using other stratagems, peremptorily 
summoned the British commander to surrender. 
Captain French, in order to save his men from 
being cut to pieces, by a force which he supposed 
to be superior to his own, surrendered, on the 1st 
of October, vv^ithout the smallest resistance. Colonel 
White having thus far succeeded, pretended he must 
keep back his troops, lest their animosity, already 
stifled by great exertions, should break out, and 
indiscriminate slaughter take place in defiance of 
his authority; and, therefore, he would commit his 
prisoners to three guides, who would conduct them 
safely to good quarters. This humane attention of 
"White was thankfully received. He immediately 
ordered three of his attendants to proceed with 
the prisoners, who moved off with celerity, anxious 
to get away, lest the fury of White's corps, 
believed to be at hand, might break out, desirous 
as he was to restrain it. White, with the two 
men retained by him, repaired, as he announced 
to his guides and prisoners, to his troops for the 
ourpose of proceeding in tlie rear. lie then 



100 DARING DEEDS 

employed Llmself in collecting the militia of tlio 
neighborliood, vwitli whom he overtook his guides 
and prisoners. 

This aiFair, says General II. Lee, in his memoirs, 
approaches too near the marvelous to have been 
admitted hj him, had it not been imiformly accre- 
dited, and never contradicted. 



PRUDE^TE AND BRAVERY OF MAJOR LEE. 

Major Lee, on the 19th of July, I'TYO, with 
about 300 men, completely surprised the British 
garrison at Paulus Hook, directly opposite the city 
of ITew York, and brought off 159 prisoners ; 
having killed about thirty of the British ; while 
the loss of the Americans was only two killed and 
three wounded. Congress gave thanks to Major 
Lee, and ordered a gold medal to be struck and 
presented to him, as a commemorative of the 
action, and as a reward for his prudence, address, 
and bravery. 



SULLIYAN'S EXPEDITIO]^'. 

During the summer of 1779, an expedition under 
General Sullivan was sent against tlie Indian tribes 
called the Six ITations, upon the upper sources of 
the Susquehanna, who, with the exception of the 
Oneidas, incited by British agents, had for some 
time carried on a sort of guerilla warfare against 
the border settlements. Sullivan with about 3000 
troops, left "Wyoming and proceeded up the Sus- 
quehanna to Tioga Point, where he was joined by 
General James Clinton, from the banks of the Mo- 
hawk, with about 1600 men, making his effective 
force nearly 5000. 

At Elmira, in Chemung county, Sullivan found 

a party of Indians and tories about 1000 in number, 

800 savages and 200 whites, under the command 

of Brandt, Butler, and others, who were at the 

massacre of "Wyoming the preceding year. They 

were strongly fortified, but Sullivan at once attacked 

them, and, after a desperate resistance, the savages 
9* 



192 DARING DEEDS 

retreated back into the wilderness. Determined to 
chastise tliem severely, the Americans pm-sued 
them into the very heart of their coimtry, and 
during the month of September, they desolated 
the whole domain to the Genesee River. They 
burned forty Indian villages, laid waste corn fields, 
gardens, fruit trees, and every other vestige of culti- 
vation left behind by the fiying Indians and tories, 
destroying more than 150,000 bushels of corn. This 
expedition was a cruel one, and was hardly justi- 
fiable by any rule of right; yet it presented one 
of those stern necessities — an evil of great magni- 
tude, requiring a severe remedy to avert serious 
consequences — which the exigencies of the times 
called forth. It greatly intimidated the Indians, 
and for a time the frontier settlements had repose. 



ADYENTUEE OF DAYID ELERSOlSr. 

The detachment to which Elerson belonged had 
been ordered from Schoharie to join General 
Clinton's expedition. While lying at the head of 



OF AMEKICAN UEKOES. 193 

the lake, Elerson rambled off to an old clearing, at 
the distance of a mile or more from the camp, to 
gather pulse for dinner. Having filled his knap- 
sack, while adjusting it, in order to return to camp, 
he was startled at the rustling of the tall and 
coarse herbage around him, and ill the same instant 
beheld some ten or a dozen Indians, who had crept 
upon him so cautiously as to be just on the point 
of springing, to grasp him. Their object was 
clearlj rather to make him a prisoner than to kill 
him, since he might easily have been shot down 
unperceived. Perhaps they wanted him for an 
auto-da-fe^ perhaps to obtain information. Seizing 
his rifle, which was standing by his side, Elerson 
sprang forward to escape. A shower of tomahawks 
hurled through the air after him ; but, as he had 
plunged into a thicket of tall weeds and bushes, 
he was only struck on one of his hands, his middle 
finger being nearly severed. A brisk chase was 
immediately commenced. Scaling an old brush- 
wood fence, Elerson darted into the woods, and the 
Indians after him. He was as fleet as a stag; and 
perceiving that they were not likely soon to over- 
take, the pursuers discharged their rifles after him. 
but luckily without effect. The chase was thus 



194 DAEIXG DEEDS 

continued from eleven nntil three o'clock, Elerson 
nsing every device and stratagem to elude or de- 
ceive the Indians, but they holding him close. At 
length, having gained a moment to breathe, an In- 
dian started up in his front. Drawing up his riile 
to clear the passage in that direction, the Avhiz of 
a bullet fleshing his side, and the crack of a rifle 
from another point, taufrht him that delavs were 
particularly dangerous at that spot. The Indian in 
front, however, had disappeared, on his presenting 
his rifle, and Elerson again darted forward. His 
wounded side bled a little, though not enough to 
weaken him. Having crossed a ridge, he paused 
a moment in the valley beyond to slake his thirst, 
his mouth being parched, and himself almost faint- 
ing. On rising from the brook, the head of one 
of his 2un-sners peeped over the crest of the hill. 
He raised his rifle, but such was his exhaustion 
that he could not hold it steady. A minute more, 
and he would have been in the power of the sav- 
age. Raising his rifle again, and steadying it by 
the side of a tree, he brought the savage tumbling 
headlong down the hill. In the next moment his 
trusty rifle was re-loaded and primed, and in the 
next the whole group of his pursuers came rushing 



OF AMERICAN nEROES. 195 

over the ridge. He again supposed his minutes 
were numbered ; but, as he was partly sheltered 
bv the trunk of a huge hemlock, they saw not him, 
but only the body of their fallen comrade, yet 
quivering in the agonies of death. Drawing in a 
circle about the body of their companion, they 
raised the death wail ; and as they paused, Elerson 
made another effort to fly. Before they resumed 
the pursuit, he had succeeded in burying himself 
in a dark thicket of hemlocks, where he found the 
hollow trunk of a tree, into which he crept. Here 
he lay ensconced two full days, without food or 
dressing for his wound. On the third day he 
backed out of " the loophole of his retreat," but 
knew not which way to proceed, not discerning 
the points of the compass. In the course of two 
or three miles however, he came to a clearing, and 
found himself at Cobleskill, having, during his 
recent chase, run over hill and dale, bog, brook, 
and fen, upward of twenty-five miles. 

At about the same time, and probably by the 
same party of Indians, the premises of a Mr. Shank- 
land, lying in their track, situated in the outskirts 
of Cherry Yalley, were assaulted. Hesiding at the 
distance of two or three miles from the village, his 



196 DARING DEEDS 

liouse hiid escaped the common destruction the 
preceding autumn. But he had, nevertheless, remo- 
ved his family to the Yalley of the Mohawk for 
safety, and had returned to his domicil accompa- 
nied only by his son. They were awakened just 
before dawn by the assailants, who were endeavor- 
ing to cut away the door with their hatchets. 
Taking down his two guns, Mr. Shankland directed 
his son to load them, wdiile he successively fired 
to the best advantage. But not being able to see 
the enemy, he determined upon a sortie. Having 
a spear, or espontoon, in the house, he armed 
himself therewith, and carefully unbarring the door, 
rushed forth upon the besiegers, wdio fled back at 
his sudden apparition. One of the Indians, whom 
he was specially pursuing, tumbled over a log, and, 
as Mr. Shankland struck at him, his spear entered 
the wood and parted from the shaft. Wrenching 
the blade from the log, he darted back into the 
house, barred the door, and again commenced firing 
upon the assailants. They had been so much sur- 
prised by his rushing out upon them, that they 
neither fired a shot nor hurled a tomahawk until 
he had returned to his castle-, and barred the 
Bally-port. During that part of the afi*ray, his son, 



CF AMERICAN HEROES. 197 

becoming somewhat friglitened, escaped from the 
house and ran for the woods. He was pursued, 
overtaken, and made captive. The father, however, 
continued the fight, the Indians firing through the 
casements at random, and he returning the shots 
as well as he could. At one time he thought of 
salljnng forth again, and selling his life to the best 
advantage ; but, by thus doing, he very rightly 
judged that he should at once involve the life of 
his son. The Indians, growing wearied of fighting 
at such disadvantage, at last attempted to make 
sm-e of their victim by applying the torch, and the 
house w^as speedily in flames. But between the rear 
of the house and the forest a field of hemp inter- 
posed, into which Mj\ Shankland contrived to throw 
himself from the house, unperceived by the Indians. 
Concealed from observation by the hemp, he suc- 
ceeded in reaching the woods, and making good 
his retreat to the Mohawk. Meantime, the Indians 
remained by the house until it was consumed, 
together, as they supposed, with the garrison. They 
then raised a shout of victory, and departed, several 
of their number having been v/ounded by the 
courageous proprietor. 



BATTLE OF KEWTOWN. 

General Sullivan liaring completed his arrange- 
ments, he left Wvomino; on the 31st of Julv, and 
ascended the Susquehanna to' Tioga, with an expe- 
dition far more formidable as to numbers, and not 
less imposing in other respects, than was the 
descending division, under General Clinton, though 
he had not the advantage of riding uj)on so ma- 
jestic a flood. Sullivan reached Tioga on the 11th 
of August, and on the following day pushed out a 
detachment twelve miles toward Chemung, which 
was attacked by a body of Indians, losing, during 
the brush, seven men killed and wounded. The 
detachment returned to Tioga on the 13th, after 
having burned one of the Indian towns. 

General Clinton, with his division, having been 
joined at Oghkwaga bj a detachment of Colonel 
Pauling's levies from Warwasing, arrived at Tioga, 
and formed a junction with Sullivan on the 22d 
of Auo^ust. The entire command amounted now to 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 199 

5000, consisting of the brigades of Generals Clin- 
ton, Hand, Maxwell, and Poor, together with 
Proctor's artillery and a corj^s of riflemen. So long 
had the expedition been in progress, that it was 
well understood the Indians and Tories were not 
unprepared to receive them ; and in moving up 
the Tioga and the Chemung Pivers, the utmost 
degree of caution was observed to guard against 
surprise. A strong advanced guard of light infan- 
try preceded the main body, which was well pro- 
tected by large flanking parties. In this way they 
slowly proceeded in the direction of the works of 
the enemy, upon the Chemung at ISTewtown. On 
the 28th an Indian settlement was destroyed, to- 
gether with fields of corn, and other Indian 
products yet unharvested. 

The Indians, determined to risk a general action 
in defence of their country, had selected their 
ground with judgment, about a mile in advance 
of Newtown. Their force was estimated by General 
Sullivan at 1500, including five companies of British 
troops and rangers, estimated at 200 men. The 
enemy, however, only allowed their force to consist 
of 550 Indians, and 250 whites, in all 800. Brant 

commanded the Indians, and the regular troops 

14 



200 DARING DEEDS 

and rangers were led by Colonel Jolm Butler, 
associated with whom were Colonels Sir John and 
Guy Johnson, Major Walter IST. Butler, and Cap- 
tain M'Donald. The enemy had constructed a 
oreastwork of half a mile in length, so covered by 
a bend of the river as to expose only the front 
and one of the flanks to attack; and even that 
flank was rendered difiicult of approach by resting 
upon a steep ridge, nearly parallel to the general 
course of the river, terminating somewhat below 
the breastwork. Farther yet to the left was still 
another ridge, running in the same direction, and 
leading to the rear of the American army. The 
ground was covered with pine, interspersed with 
low shrub-oaks, many of which, for the purpose of 
concealing their works, had been cut and brought 
from a distance, and stuck down in tlieir front, 
exhibiting the appearance of untransplanted shrub- 
bery. The road, after crossing a deep brook at the 
foot of the hill, turned to the right, and ran nearly 
parallel to the breastwork, so as to expose the 
whole flank of the army to their fire should it ad- 
vance without discovering their position. Detach- 
ments of the enemy, communicating with each 
other, were stationed on both hills, for the purpose 



OF AMElilCAN HEKOES. 201 

of falling upon Sullivan's right and rear the mo- 
ment the action should commence. 

The enemy's position was discovered by Major 
Parr, commanding the advanced guard, at about 
eleven o'clock in the morning of the 29th of Au- 
gust. General Hand immediately formed the light 
infantry in a wood, at the distance of about 400 
yards from the breastwork, and waited until the 
main body of the army had arrived on the ground. 
A skirmishing was, however, kept up on both sides, 
the Indians sallying out of their works by sjnall 
parties, firing, and suddenly retreating, making the 
woods, at the same time, to resound with their war- 
whoops, piercing the air, from point to point, as 
though the tangled forest were alive with their 
grim-visaged warriors. Correctly judging that the 
hill upon his right was occupied by the savages, 
General Sullivan ordered Poor's brigade to wheel 
off and endeavor to gain their left flank, and, if 
possible, to surround them, while the artillery and 
main body of the Americans attacked them in front. 
Tlie order was promptly executed ; but as Poor 
climbed the ascent, the battle became animated, 
and the possession of the hill was bravely contested. 
In front the enemv stood a hot cannonade for more 



202 



DARING DEEDS 



than two hours. Both Tories and Indians were 
entitled to the credit of fighting manfullj. Every 
rock, and tree, and bush shielded its man, from 
behind which the winged messengers of death were 
thickly sent, but with so little effect as to excite 
astonishment. The Indians yielded ground only 
incli by inch ; and in their retreat darted from tree 
to tree with the agility of the panther, often con- 
testing each new position to the point of the bay- 
onets, a thing very unusual ev^en with militiamen, 
and .still more rare among the undisciplined war- 
riors of the woods. Thayendanegea was the ani- 
mating spirit of the savages. Always in the 
thickest of the fight, he used every effort to stimu- 
late his warriors, in the hope of leading them to 
victory. Until the artillery began to play, the 
whoops and yells c^f the savages, mingled with the 
rattling of musketry, had well-nigh obtained the 
mastery of sound. But their whoops were measu- 
rably drowned by the thunder of the cannon. This 
cannonade " was elegant," to adopt the phraseology 
of Sullivan himself, . in writing to a friend, and gave 
the Indians a great panic. Still, the battle waa 
contested in front for a length of time with undi 
minished spirit. But the severity of fighting was 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 203 

on the flank just described. As Poor gallantly 
approached the point which completely uncovered 
the enemy's rear, Brant, who had been the first 
to penetrate the design of the . American com- 
mander, attempted once more to rally his forces, 
and, with the assistance of a battalion of the ran- 
gers, make a stand. But it was in vain, although 
he exerted himself to the utmost for that purj^ose, 
flying from point to point, seeming to be every 
where present, and using every means in his power 
to reanimate the flagging spirits and reinvigorate 
the arms of his followers. Having ascended the 
steep, and gained his object without faltering. Poor 
turned the enemy's flank, and the fortunes of the 
day were decided. Perceiving such to be the fact, 
and that there was danger of being surrounded, 
tiie retreat-halloo was raised, and the enemy, sav- 
ages and whit^ men, abandoned their works, 
crossed the river, and fled with the utmost pre- 
cipitation, the Indians leaving their packs and a 
number of their tomahawks and scalping-knives be- 
hind them. The battle was long, and on the side 
of the enemy bloody. Eleven of their dead were 
found upon the field : an unusual circumstance witli 
the Indians, who invariably exert themselves to tlie 



204 DARING DEEDS 

utmost to prevent the bodies of tlieir slain from 
falling into tlie hands of tlieir foes. But being 
pushed at the point of the bayonet, they had not 
time to bear them away. They were pursued two 
miles, their trail affording indubitable proof that a 
portion of their dead and wounded had been carried 
off. Two canoes were found covered with blood, 
and the bodies of fourteen Indian warriors were 
discovered partially buried among the leaves. 
Eight scalps were taken by the Americans during 
the chase. Considering the duration of the battle, 
and the obstinacy with which it was maintained, 
the loss of the Americans was small almost to a 
miracle. Only five or six men were killed, and 
between forty and fifty wounded. Among the 
American officers wounded were Major Titcomb, 
Captain Clayes, and Lieutenant Collis, the lattei 
mortally. All the houses of the contiguous Indian 
town were burned, and the corn fields destroyed. 



EXPEDITION OF COLOI^EL BRODHEAD. 

But there was yet another expedition against the 
Indians, devised and executed simnltaneonsly with 
that of General Sullivan. This movement took 
place under the direction of Colonel Daniel Brod- 
head, then commanmng at Fort Pitt, and was 
originally designed by tne Commander-in-Chief, after 
accomplishing the destruction of the Mingo, Mun- 
sey, and a portion of the Seneca Indians settled on 
the Alleghany Piver, for co-operation with that of 
Sullivan, by a junction at Niagara, a point, as it 
happened, unattained by either. Colonel Brodhead 
left Pittsburgh on the 11th of August, at the head 
of 600, rank and file, including volunteers and 
militia, with provisions for one month. The first 
Indian town designed to be attacked was Canno- 
wago. On their way thither, four days after their 
departure from Fort Pitt, Colonel Brodhead's ad 
vanced guard met a party of between thirty and 
forty Indian warriors descending the Alleghany in 



206 DARING D'EEDS 

".annes. Tlie Indians landed to give battle, but 
were defeated after a sharp brush, and put to 
flight, leaving five warriors dead, and evident 
marks that others had been carried off wounded. 
On arriving at Cannowago, the troops were mor- 
tified to find that the town had been deserted for 
eighteen months. Proceeding onward, however, 
the 7 successively entered several towns, which 
were abandoned by the Indians on their approach. 
Tliey were all destroyed, together with the adjacent 
cornfields. At the upper Seneca town, called 
1 oghroonwago, they found a painted image, or 
vrar-post, clothed in dogskin. There were several 
t,'^vns in the vicinity of this place, containing, in 
all, 130 houses, some of which were large enough 
to accommodate three or four families each. These 
\Yere all destroyed, together with their fields of corn, 
so extensive that the troops were occupied three 
days in accomplishing the object. The /old towns 
>/f Buckloons and Maghinquechahocking, consisting 
of thirty-five large houses, were likewise burned. 
The Indians had fled so precipitately as to leave 
some packages of skins and other booty, to the 
value of $3000 all of which were then taken 
Fields of corn were destroyed at least to the extent 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 207 

Df 500 acres. From the number of new houses 
building, and the extent of lands preparing for 
cultivation, it was conjectured that it was the in- 
tention of the whole Seneca and Munsey nations to 
plant themselves down in those settlements. The 
distance traversed by Colonel Brodhead, going and 
returning, was 400 miles, and not a man was lost 
daring the expedition. 

The thanks of Congress were likewise .voted to 
General Washington for devising, and to Colonel 
Brodhead for executing, this expedition. It has 
already been remarked that, as but few of the 
enemy were slain in these expeditions, the only 
imlnediate effect, beyond the destruction of pro- 
visions and property, was to exasperate the Indians. 
A more remote effect was to throw the whole body 
of the hostiles of the Six ITations back upon their 
British employers for their entire support the fol- 
lowing winter. Another consequence was, that, 
from the want and distress of the Indians during 
the winter, a mortal disease was superinduced 
among them, which swept great numbers into 
eternity. 

The Delawares were at that time at peace with 

the United States, and a small body of their 
10 



208 DARING DEEDS 

warriors had accompanied Colonel Brodhead on the 
expedition from which he had just returned. The 
business having been closed with the Huron chief, 
the Delawares interposed in behalf of the Maqui- 
chee clan of the Shawanese. These Indians were 
now apparently veiy humble : but, apprehensive 
that they might not, perhaps, manage their own 
case very well, the Delawares had kept them back 
from the council, and undertaken their cause them- 
selves. 

The conference appears to have been satisfactory 
to Colonel Brodhead. But if the Maquichee clan 
of the Shawanese preserved their fidelity, the main 
body of the nation became none the less unfriendly 
by their means. And although Colonel Brodhead 
had admonished them that he would not counter- 
mand the orders of Colonel Clarke to strike them, 
it so happened that the first and severest blow was 
struck by the Shawanese themselves. It was but a 
short time after the closing of the council at Fort 
Pitt, that a detachment of seventy men from the 
Kentucky district of Virginia, under the command 
of Major Eogers, was surprised while ascending 
the Ohio, and nearly exterminated. The Kentuck- 
.ans were drawn ashore by a stratagem. At first 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 209 

a few Indians only appeared, standing upon a 
sandbar near the moutli of the Licldng Eiver, while 
a canoe, with three other Indians, was paddling 
toward them as though to receive them on board. 
Rogers immediately put in to the Kentucky shore, 
and having made fast his boats, went in pursuit. 
Only five or six Indians had been seen, and Rogers, 
presuming that the whole party would not proba- 
bly exceed fifteen or twenty at farthest, felt per 
fectly sure of an easy victory, having seventy men, 
well armed and provided. Proceeding cautiously 
toward the point where he supposed he should 
surround the enemy, and having adjusted his 
movements with that design, at the very moment 
when he was preparing to rush forward and secure 
them, he found himself with his whole force in the 
midst of an ambuscade ! The Indians rose in hun- 
dreds on all sides of him, and pouring in a close 
and deadly fire upon the Americans, rushed upon 
the survivors tomahawk in hand. Major Rogers 
and forty-five of his men were killed almost in- 
stantly. The residue ran for the boats, but the 
guard of only five men, who had been left in 
charge, had sought security by putting off in one 
of them, while the Indians had already anticipated 



210 DARING DEEDS 

the fugitives by taking possession of tlie others. 
The possibility of retreat being thus cut off, the 
brave fellows now turned furiously upon the enemy ; 
and as night was approaching, after a sharp fight 
for some time, a small number, aided by the dark- 
ness, succeeded in effecting their escape to Har- 
rodsburgh. 

Among the wounded in this sharp and bloody 
encounter, who escaped both death and captivity, 
were Captain Robert Benham and another man, 
whose cases, together, form a novel and romantic 
adventure. Benham was shot through both hips, 
and the bones being shattered, he instantly fell. 
Still, aided by the darkness, he succeeded in crawl- 
ing among the thick branches of a fallen tree, 
where he lay without molestation through the night 
and during the following day, while the Indians, 
who had returned for that purpose, were stripping 
the slain. He continued to lie close in the place 
of his retreat until the second day, when, becom- 
ing hungry, and observing a raccoon descending 
a tree, he managed to shoot it, hoping to be able 
to strike, a fire and cook the animal. The crack 
of the rifle was followed by a human cry, which 
at first startled the captain ; but the cry being 



OF AMEKICAN HEROES. 211 

repeated several times, the voice of a KentucMan 
was at length recognised ; the call was returned, 
and the parties were soon together. The man 
proved to be one of his comrades, who had lost 
the use of both his arms in the battle. JSTever did 
misery find more welcome company. One of the 
parties could use his feet, and the other his hands. 
Benham, by tearing up his o^vn and his compan- 
ion's shirts, dressed the wounds of both. He could 
load his rifle and fire with readiness, and was thus 
enabled to kill such game as approached, while 
his companion could roll the game along upon the 
ground with his feet, and in the same manner col- 
lect wood enough together to cook their meals. 
When thirsty, Eenham could place his hat in the 
teeth of his companion, who went to the Licking, 
and wading in until he could stoop down and fill 
it, returned with a hatful of water. When the 
stock of squirrels and other small game in their 
immediate neighborhood was exhausted, the man 
of legs would roam away, and drive up a flock 
of wild turkeys, then abundant in those parts, until 
they came within range of Benham's rifle. Thus 
they lived six weeks, when they discovered a boat 
upon the Ohio, which took them off. Both recov- 
v^rod thoroiifililv fruni their wounds. 



CHAPTER VI— 1780. 



CAPTURE OF MAJOR AKDRE. 

In the year 1780, a plot 'fraught with much 
danger to the American cause was happily dis- 
covered. This plot originated with Arnold, a gene- 
''ral in the American army, who by his extravagance 
and overbearing behavior, had brought upon him- 
self a reprimand from the American Congress. Of 
a temper too impetuous to bear reproof, Arnold, 
bent on revenge, entered into a negotiation through 
Major John Andre, adjutant general in the British 
army, to deliver up to the enemy the important 
post of West Point, of which Arnold had the 
command. 

Andre proceeded in disguise to West Point, drew 
a plan of the fortress, concerted with Arnold, and 
agreed upon the manner and time of attack. Hav- 
ing obtained a passport, and assumed the name of 
Anderson, Andre set out on his return to Kew 




iulllill/ II Willi'" '" 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 213 

York hy land. He passed the outposts of the 
American armj without suspicion. Supposing him- 
self now out of danger he pressed forward, elated 
with the prospect of the speedy execution of a plot, 
which was to give the finishing blow to liberty in 
America. 

When Andre had arrived within about thirty 
miles of "New York, and as he was entering a 
village called Tarrytown, three militia men, who 
happened that way, John Paulding, David "Wil- 
liams, and Isaac Yan Wart, seized the bridle of 
his horse, and accosted him with, " Where are you 
bound ? " Andre, supposing that they were of the 
British, did not immediately show his passport, 
but waving their questions, asked them, " where 
they belonged to f " they replied " to helow^'^ (refer- 
ring to the course of the river, and implying that 
they were of the British party.) " And so do /," 
said Andre, (confirmed in his mistake by this 
stratagem,) and at the same time informed them 
that he was a British officer on urgent business, 
and must not be detained. " You 'belong to our 
enemies^'* exclaimed the militia men, ^^ and we 
arrest youP Andre, struck with astonishment, 

presented his passport; but this, after what had 
10* Y 



214 DARING DEEDS 

passed, omy rendered liis case the more suspicious. 
He then offered them a purse of gold, his horse 
and watch, besides a large reward from the British 
government, if they would but liberate him. But 
these soldiers, though poor and obscure, were not 
to be bribed. They searched him, and found con- 
cealed in his boot, papers which evidenced his 
guilt, and they immediately conducted him to 
Colonel Jameson, their commanding officer. 

Andre was tried by a board of general officers 
of the American army, and executed as a spy, at 
Tappan, 'New York, October 2d. He was a young 
officer, highminded, brave, accomplished, and hu- 
mane. He suffered with fortitude, and his fate 
excited the universal sympathy of all parties. 



DEATH OF BAEOJSr DE KALB. 

Major Horry, in his "Life of General Marion," 
gives the following account of an interview with 
the brave De Kalb, the day before the disastrous 
battle of Camden: 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 215 

Immediately on receiving orders of departure, 
we waited on the good old De Kalb to take our 
leave, and to express our deep regret at parting 
with him. " It is with equal regret, my dear sirs, 
that I part with you," said he; "because I feel a 
presentiment that w^e part to meet no more." 

We told him we hoped better things. 

" Oh no !" replied he, " it is impossible. "War 
is a kind of game, and has its fixed rules, whereby, 
w^hen we are well acquainted wdth them, we can 
pretty correctly tell how the trial will go. To-mor- 
row, it seems, the die is to be cast ; and, in my 
judgment, without the least chance on our side. 
The m^ilitia will, I suppose, as usual, play the 'backr 
game • that is, get out of battle as fast as their 
legs will carry them. But that, you know, won't 
do for me. I an an old soldier^ and cannot run; 
and I believe I have some brave fellows that will 
stand by me to the last. So, when you hear of 
our battle, you will probably hear that your old 
friend, De Kalb, is at rest." • 

I never was more affected in my life; and I 
perceived tears in the eyes of General Marion. 
De Kalb saw them too ; and taking us by the hand, 
he said, with a firm tone, and animated look, "I^o I 



216 DARING DEEDS 

no ! gentlemen ; no emotion for me, but tliose of 
congratulation. I am happj. To die is the irre- 
versible decree of him who made us. Then what 
joj to be able to meet death without dismay. 
This, thank God, is my case. The happiness of 
man is my wish ; that happiness I deem inconsis- 
tent with slavery. And to avert so great an evil 
from an innocent people, I will gladly meet the 
British to-morrow, at any odds whatever." 

As he spoke this, a fire flashed from his eyes, 
which deemed to me to demonstrate the divinity 
of virtue, and the immortality of the soul. "We 
left him with feelings which I shall never forget, 
while memory maintains her place in my aged 
brain. 

It was on the morning of August 15th, 1Y80, 
that we left the army in a good position, near 
Ungeley's mills, twelve miles from Camden, where 
the enemy lay. About ten, that night, orders were 
given to march and surprise the enemy, who had, 
at the same time, commenced a march to surprise 
the Americans. To their mutual astonishment, the 
advance of both armies met at two o'clock, and 
began firing on each other. It was, however, soon 
discontinued by both parties, who appeared very 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 217 

willing to leave the matter to be decided by day- 
light. A council of war was called, in which De 
Kalb advised that the army should fall back to 
Rugeley's mills, and wait to be attacked. General 
Gates not only rejected this excellent counsel, ..but 
threw out insinuations that it originated in fear. 
Upon this, the brave old man leaped from his 
horse, and j)laced himself at the head of his com- 
mand on foot, saying, with considerable warmth, 
""Well, sir, perhaiJS a few hours will show who 
are the brave." 

As daylight increased, the frightened militia 
began to discover the woods, reddened all over 
with the scarlet uniform of the British army, which 
soon, with rattling drums and thundering cannon, 
came rushing on to the charge ; and they scarcely 
waited to give them a distant fire before they 
broke, and fled in every direction. General Gates 
clapped spurs to his horse, as he said, " to bring the 
rascals back." However, he did not bring him- 
self back, nor did he stop till he reached Charlotte, 
eighty miles from the field of battle. Two-thirds 
of the army having thus shamefully taken them- 
selves oflf, the brave old De Kalb and his handful 
of continentals were left to try the fortmie of the 



218 DiLRING DEEDS 

day. More determined valor was never displa^^ed : 
for tliough. outnumbered more than two to one, 
they sustained the whole British force for more 
than an hour. Glorying in the bravery of his con- 
tinentals, De Kalb towered before them like a 
pillar of fire. But, alas ! what can valor do against 
equal valor, aided by such fearful odds? While 
bending forward to animate his troops, the veteran 
received eleven wounds. Fainting with loss of 
blood, he fell to the ground, while Britons and 
Americans were killed over him, as they furiously 
strove to destroy, or to defend. In the midst of 
clashing bayonets, his only surviving aid. Monsieur 
de Buyson, stretched his arms over the fallen 
hero, and called out, " Save the Baron de Kalb ! 
save the Baron de Kalb ! " The British officers 
then interposed, and prevented his immediate 
destruction. 

De Kalb died, as he had lived, the unconquered 
friend of liberty. When an English officer con- 
doled with him for his misfortune he replied, " I 
thank you, sir, for your generous sympathy; but T 
.die the death I always prayed for; the death of a 
soldier, fighting for the rights of man." He sur- 
vived but a few hours, and was buried in the 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 219 

plains of Camden, near whicli his last battle was 
fought. 

Many years after, when the great "Washington 
visited Camden, he eagerly inquired for the grave 
of De Kalb. It was shown to him. Gazing u2:)on 
it thoughtfully, he exclaimed, with a deep sigh, 
"So, there lies the brave De Kalb; the generous 
stranger, who came from a distant land, to fight 
our battles, and to water, with his blood, the tree 
of liberty. "Would to God he had lived to share 
its fruits ! " 



BATTLE AT KIIS^G'S M0U:NTAIN. 

" It had been the policy of the British, since the 
general submission of the inhabitants of South 
Carolina, to increase the royal force by embodying 
the people of the country as British militia. In 
the district of Ninety-six, Major Ferguson, a par- 
tisan of distinguished merit, had been employed to 
train the most loyal inhabitants, and to attach 
them to his own corps. That officer was now 



220 DARING DEEDS 

directed by Lord Cornwallis to enter the western 
part of North Carolina, near the mountains, and to 
embody the loyalists in that quarter, for co-operation 
with his army. Cornwallis, in the mean time, com- 
menced his march with the main army from Cam- 
den, through the settlement of the Waxhaws, to 
Charlotteville, in I^orth Carolina. About the same 
time. Colonel Clark, of Georgia, at the head of a 
small body of men, which he had collected in the 
frontiers of North and South Carolina, advanced 
against Augusta, and laid siege to that place. 
Colonel Brown, who with a few loyal provincials 
held that post ' for the British, made a vigorous 
defence ; and, on the approach of Colonel Cruger, 
with a re-enforcement from Ninety-six, Clark relin- 
quished the enterprise, and made a rapid retreat 
through the country along w^hich he had marched 
to the attack. Major Ferguson, receiving intelli- 
gence of his movements, prepared to intercept him. 
The hardy mountaineers of Virginia and North 
Carolina, collecting at this time from various quar- 
ters, constituted a formidable force, and advanced 
by a rapid movement toward Ferguson. At the 
same time, Colonel Williams, from the neighbor- 
hood of Ninety-six, and Colonels Tracy and Banan, 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 221 

also of South Carolina, conducted parties of men 
toward the same points. Ferguson, having notice 
of their approach, commenced his march for Char- 
lotteville. The several corps of militia, amounting 
to near 3000 men, met at Gilberttown, lately occu- 
pied by Ferguson. About 160u riflemen were im- 
mediately selected, and mounted on their fleetest 
norses, for the purpose of following the retreating 
army. They came up with tlie enemy at King's 
Mountain, October 7th, 1780, where Ferguson, on 
finding he should be overtaken, had chosen his 
ground, and waited for an attack. The Americans 
formed themselves into three divisions, led by 
Colonels Campbell, Shelby, and Cleaveland, and 
began to ascend the mountain in three difi'erent 
and opposite directions. Cleaveland wdth his divi- 
sion, was the first to gain sight of the enemy's 
pickets, and halting his men, he addressed them 
in the following simple, affecting, and animating 
terms: — "My brave fellows, we have beat the to- 
ries^ and we can beat them ; they are all cowards. 
If they had the spirit of men, they woifld join 
with their fellow-citizens in supporting the inde- 
pendence of their country. "When engaged, you 
are not to wait for the word of command from me. 



212 DARING DEEDS 

I will isliow you hy my example Jiow to fight- I 
can undertake no more. Every man must consider 
himself as an officer, and act from his own judg- 
ment. Fire as quick as you can, and stand your 
ground as long as you can. When you can do no 
better, get behind trees, or retreat ; but 1 beg of 
you not to run quite off. If we are repulsed, let us 
make a point to return, and renew the figlit; 
perhaps we may have better luck in the second 
attempt than in tlie first. If any of you are afraid, 
such have leave to retire, and they are requested 
immediately to take themselves offP This address, 
which would have done honor to the hero of 
Agincourt, being ended, the men rushed upon the 
enemy's pickets, and forced them to retire ; but 
returning again to the charge with the bayonet, 
Cleaveland's men gave way in their turn. In the 
mean time. Colonel Shelby advanced with his 
division, and was in like manner driven back by 
the bayonets of the enemy ; but there was yet 
another body of assailants to be received : Colonel 
Campbell moved up at the moment of Shelby's re- 
pulse, but was equally unable to stand against the 
British bayonet ; and Ferguson still kept possession 
of his mountain. The whole of the division being 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 223 

separately baffled, determined to make another 
effort in co-operation, and the conflict became ter- 
rible. EergiiBon still depended upon the bayonet •, 
but this brave and undaunted ofiicer, after gallantly 
sustaining the attack for nearly an hour, was killed 
by a musket ball, and his troops soo« after sur- 
rendered at discretion. The enemy's loss on this 
occasion was 300 killed and wounded, 800 prison- 
ers, and 1500 stand of arms. Our loss in killed 
was about twenty, among whom was Colonel "Wil- 
liams, one of our most active and enterprising 
officers ; our number of wounded was very con- 
siderable. 



BATTLE OF THE COWPEKS. 

Morgan, pursued by Tarleton, having been accus- 
tomed to fight and to conquer, did not relish the 
eager and interrupting pursuit of his adversary ; 
and sat down at the Cowpens to give rest and re- 
freshment to his harassed troops, with a resolution 
no longer to avoid action, should his enemy persist 



22i DARING DEEDS 

in it. Being apprised at the dawn of day of Tarle- 
ton's advance he instantly prepared for battle. This 
decision grew out of irritation of temper, which 
appears to have overruled the suggestions of his 
sound and discriminating judgment. The ground 
about the Cowpens is covered with open wood, ad- 
mitting the operation of cavalry with facility, in 
which the enemy trebled Morgan. 

Two light parties of militia, under Major 
M'Dowel, of E"orth Carolina, and Major Cunning- 
ham, of Georgia, were advanced in front, with 
orders to fell the enemy as he approached ; and, 
preserving a desultory well-aimed fire as they fell 
back to the front line, to range with it and renew 
the conflict. The main body of the militia com- 
posed this line, with General Pickens at its head. 
At a suitable distance in the rear of the first line 
a second was stationed, composed of the continen- 
tal infantry and two companies of Virginia militia, 
under Captains Triplett and Taite, commanded by 
Lieutenant-Colonel Howard. Washington's cavalry, 
reinforced with a company of mounted militia, 
armed with sabres, was held in reserve ; convenient 
to support the infantry, and protect the horses of 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 225 

the rifle militia, wliicli were tied, agreeably to 
usage, in the rear. 

The British lieutenant-colonel, urging forward, 
was at length gratified with the certainty of battle ; 
and, being prone to presume on victory, he hurried 
the formation of his troops. The light and legion 
infantry, with the seventh regiment, composed the 
line of battle ; in the centre of which was posted 
the artillery, consisting of two grasshoppers; and 
a troop of dragoons was placed on each flank. The 
battalion of the seventy-first regiment, under Major" 
M'Arthur, with the remainder of the cavalry, for- 
med the reserve. Tarleton placed himself with the 
line, having under him Major llTewmarsh, who 
commanded the seventh regiment. The disposition 
was not completed when he directed the line to 
advance, and the reverse to wait further orders. 
The American light parties qnicMy yielded, fell 
back, and arrayed with Pickens. The enemy, 
shouting, rushed forward upon the front line, which 
retained its station, and poured in a close fire ; 
but, continuing to advance with the bayonet on 
our militia, they retired, and gained with haste the 
second line. Here, with part of the corps, Pickens 
took post on Howard's right, and the rest fled to 



226 DARINGDEEDS 

their horses — probably with orders to removo 
tliem to a further distance. Tarleton pushed for- 
ward, and was received by his adversary with un- 
shaken firmness. The contest became obstinate, 
and each party animated by the 'example of its 
leader, nobly contended for victory. Our line 
maintained itself so firmly, as to oblige the enemy 
to order np his reserve. The advance of M'Arthur 
reanimated the British line, which again moved 
forward ; and, outstretching our front, endangered 
Howard's rio^ht. This officer instantlv took mea- 
sures to defend his flank, by directing his right 
company to change its front ; but, mistaking this 
order, the company fell back ; npon which the line 
began to retire, and General Morgan directed it to 
retreat to the cavalry. This manoeuver being per- 
formed with precision, onr flank became relieved, 
and the new position was assumed with ]3rompt- 
itude. Considering this retrograde movement the 
precursor of flight, the British line rushed on with 
impetuosity and disorder; but, as it drew near, 
Howard faced about, and gave it a close and mur- 
derous fire. Stunned by this unexpected shock, 
the most advanced of the enemy recoiled in con- 
fusion. Howard seized the happy moment, and 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 227 

followed his advantage with the bayonet. This 
decisive step gave us the day. The reserve having 
been brought near the line, shared in the destruc- 
tion of our fire, and presented no rallying point to 
the fugitives. A part of the enemy's cavalry, hav- 
ing gained our rear, fell on that portion of the 
militia v,-ho had retired to their horses. Washiuir 
ton struck at them with his dragoons, and drove 
them before him. Thus, by simultaneous eftorts 
the infantry and cavalry of the enemy w^ere routed 
Morgan pressed home his success, and the pursuit 
became vigorous and general. The British cavalry, 
having taken no part in the action, except the two 
troops attached to the line, were in force to cover 
the retreat. This, however, was not done. The 
zeal of Lieutenant-Colonel "Washington in pursuit 
having carried him far before his squadron, Tarle- 
ton turned upon him with the troop of the seven- 
teenth regiment of dragoons, seconded by many of 
his officers. The American lieutenant-colonel was 
first rescued from this critical contest by one of his 
sergeants, an'd afterward by a fortunate shot from 
his bugler's pistol. This check concluded resistance 
on the part of the British ofiicer, who drew ofi* 
with the remains of his cavalry, collected liis 



228 DARING DEEDS 

stragglers, and hastened to Lord Cornwallis. The 
baggage guard, learning the issue of the battle, 
moved instantly toward the British army. The re- 
mainder arrived with Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton 
on the morning following. In this decisive battle 
we lost about seventy men, of whom twelve only 
were killed. The British infantry, with the excep- 
tion of the baggage guard, were nearly all killed 
or taken. One hundred, including ten officers, 
were killed ; twenty-three officers and 500 privates 
were taken. The artillery, 800 muskets, two stan- 
dards, thirty-five baggage wagons, and 100 dra- 
goon horses, fell into our possession. 

Congress manifested their sense of this important 
victory by a resolve, ajDproving the conduct of the 
principal officers, and commemorative of their dis- 
tinguished exertions. To General Morgan they 
presented a golden medal, to Brigadier Pickens a 
sword, and to Lieutenant-Colonels Howard and 
Washington, a silver medal, and to Captain 
Triplett, a sword. 



SEEGEAISTT MITCHELL. 

The intrepidity of this excellent soldier, merits 
particular notice. There were no ensigns attached 
to the command, and when it was ascertained that 
a contest must ensue with Tarleton, the adjutant 
selected Mitchell to bear the colors, as he had al- 
ways been distinguished for correctness of conduct, 
and was connected with a family of high respecta- 
bility. In the progress of the battle, Tarleton led 
an attack on the centre of the line where Mitchell 
was posted, with his standard. The intrepid ser- 
geant was cut down, and the staff of his colors 
broken. Grasping the part to which the colors 
were attached, he retained it firmly in his hands, 
while dragged to a distance of fifteen yards. The 
British dragoons now gathered round him, and 
would immediately have mangled him to death, 
but Captain Kinloch dismounted and protected 
him from their rage, declaring that so gallant a 

soldier, though an enemv should not perish. 
11 16 



280 DARING DEEDS 

Mitctiell sui'vived bis wounds, thougli severe, re- 
moved, at the close of the war to Georgia, became, 
from bis acknowledged merits, a Brigadier-General, 
and was, but a few years back, a bale and hearty 
man. 



ISTAYAL ENGAGEMENTS. 

In June, 1780, the twenty-eight gun ship Trumbull, 
commanded by Captain Nicholson, attacked the 
British ship Watt, of greatly superior strength, and 
was disabled, but not captured. She lost thirty-two 
in killed and wounded ; the enemy lost ninety-two. 
In October, the sixteen-gun sloop Saratoga, Captain 
Young, captured a British ship and two brigs, but 
while convoying them into port, was overtaken by 
the seventy-four Intrepid, and the prizes were re- 
captured. The Saratoga escaped. On the 2d of 
April, 1781, the Alliance, Captain Barry, captured 
two Guernsey privateers ; and soon after, she cap- 
tured two British men-of-war, one of which was 
retaken on its way to America. In June, tlie 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 231 

Confederacy, Captain Harding, was captured by 
two armed British vessels. In August, the Trum- 
bull was captured by three British cruisers, off the 
Capes of the Delaware; and on the 6th of Sep- 
tember, the Congress, Captain Geddes, captured the 
British ship Savage, after a desperate encounter. 
She was afterward recaptured. 



DEFEAT OF MAJOR GAIKEY. 

Marion's career of activity commenced with his 
commana. Though always prudent, he yet learned 
that prudence in military life must always imply 
activity. The insecurity of the encampment, with 
a militia force, is always greater than that of battle. 
The Roman captains of celebrity were particularly 
aware of this truth. But the activity of Marion 
was necessarily sti-aitened by the condition in which 
he found his men. They were wretchedly deficient 
in all the materials of service. His first effort to 
supply some of their wants, was in sacking the 
saw-mills. The saws were wrought and hammered 



232 DARING DEEDS 

by rude blacksmitlis into some resemblance to 
sabres, and thus provided, Marion set his men in 
motion, two days after taking the command. 
Crossing the Pedee at Port's Ferry, he advanced 
upon a large body of Tories commanded by Major 
Gainey, who held a position upon Britton's Neck. 
Gainey was considered by the British an excellent 
partisan officer, but he was caught napping. Ma- 
rion moved with equal secrecy and celerity. After 
riding all night, he came upon the enemy at dawn 
in the morning. The discovery and the attack 
were one. The surprise was complete. A captain 
and several privates were slain, and the party dis- 
persed. Marion did not lose a man, and had but 
two wounded. In this engagement, our representa 
tive, Major James, distinguished himself, by 
singling out Major Gainey for personal combat. 
But Gainey shrank from his more powerful assail- 
ant, and sought safety in flight. James pursued 
for a distance of half a mile. In the eagerness of 
the chase he did not perceive that he was alone 
and unsupported. It was enough that he was 
gaining upon his enemy, who was almost within 
reach of his sword, when the chase brought them 
Buddenly upon a body of Tories who had rallied 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 233 

upon the road. There was not a moment to be 
lost. Hesitation would have been fatal. But our 
gallant Major was nat to be easily intimidated. 
With great coolness and presence of mind, waving 
his sword aloft, he cried out, " come on, bojs I 
here they are ! " and rushed headlong upon the 
group of enemies, as if perfectly assured of support. 
The TUS6 was successful. The Tories broke once 
more, and sought safety from their individual 
enemy in the recesses of Pedee swamp. 



MAEIOK AT JSTELSOI^'S FEKEY. 

On the 17th August, the day following the 
defeat of Gates, — of which event he was as yet 
wholly ignorant — he dispatched Colonel Peter 
Horry, with orders to take command of four com- 
panies, Bonneau's, Mitchell's, Benson's, and Le- 
nud's, near Georgetown, on the Santee ; to destroy 
all the boats and canoes on the river from the 
lower ferry to Lenud's — to break up and stop all 
communications with Charlestown, and to procure, 



234 DARING DEEDS 

if possible, supplies of gunpowder, flints and bul- 
lets, "Twenty-five weight of gunpowder, ball or 
buckshot," is the language of his orders. This will 
show how scanty were the supplies which were to 
be procured of the material upon which everything 
depended. Marion frequently went into action with 
less than three rounds to a man — half of his men 
were sometimes lookers on because of the lack of 
arms and ammunition — waiting to see the fall of 
friends or enemies, in order to obtain the necessary 
means of taking part in the affair. Buckshot 
easily satisfied soldiers, who not unfrequently ad- 
vanced to the combat with nothing but swan-shot 
in their fowling-pieces. 

While Horry proceeded toward Georgetown, 
Marion marched to the upper Santee. On this 
march he was advised of the defeat of Gates ; but, 
fearing its effect upon his men, without communi- 
cating it, he proceeded immediately toward JSTelson's 
Ferry. This was a well known pass on the great 
route, the " war-path, " from Charleston to Camden. 
Here his scouts advised him of the approach of a 
strong British guard, with a large body of prisoners 
taken from Gates. The guard had stopped at a 
house on the east side of the river. Informed of 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 235 

all necessary particulars, Marion, a little beforq 
daylight, detached Colonel Hugh Horry, with six- 
teen men, to gain possession of the road, at the 
pass of Horse Creek, in the swamp, while the 
main body under himself was to attack the enemy's 
rear. The attempt was made at dawn, and was 
perfectly successful. A letter from IMarion himself, 
to Colonel P. Horry, thus details the event: — 
" On the 20th inst. I attacked a guard of the 63d 
and Prince of "Wales' Eegiment, with a number 
of Tories, at the Great Savannah, near !N"elson's 
Ferry ; killed and took twenty-two regulars, and 
two Tories prisoners, and retook 150 Continentals 
of the Maryland line, one wagon and a drum ; one* 
captain and a subaltern were also captured. Our 
loss is one Idlled, and Captain Benson is slightly 
wounded on the head." 



ADVENTURES OF MAJOR JAME^ AiNu 
CAPTAm WITHERSPOOJST. 

Major James, who was equally bold and skillful, 
pressed forward fearlessly till lie became aware of 
the proximity of the British. He was resolved to 
make sure of his intelligence. He j^laced himself 
in a thicket on their line of march, and by a bright 
moon, was readily enabled to form a very correct 
*notion of their character and numbers. But as the 
rear-guard passed by, his courageous spirit prompted 
further performances. He was not content to carry 
to his general no other proofs of his vigilance but 
the tidings which he had obtained. His perfect 
knowledge of the groimd, his confidence in the ex- 
cellent character of his men, and the speed of their 
horses, moved him to greater daring ; and, bursting 
from his hiding-place, with a terrible shout, he 
Bwooped down with his small party upon the. star- 
tied stragglers in the rear of the Tory march, 
carrying off his prisoners in the twinkling of an 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 237 

eje, without stopping to slay, and without suffering 
the loss of a man. Before the enemy could rally, 
and turn upon his path, the tread of the partisan's 
horse no longer sounded in his ears. 

It was while Marion remained at "White Marsh, 
that one of his captains, Gavin Witherspoon, whom 
he had sent out with four men, achieved one of 
those clever performances, that so frequently dis- 
tinguished the men of Marion. He had taken re- 
fuge in Pedee Swamp from the pursuit of the 
enemy, and, while hiding, discovered one of the 
camps of the Tories who had been in pursuit of 
him. Witherspoon proposed to his four comrades 
to watch the enemy's camp, until the Tories were 
asleep. But his men timidly shrank from the per- 
formance, expressing their dread of superior 
numbers. Witherspoon undertook the adventure 
himself. Creeping up to the encampment, he found 
that they slept at the butt of a pine tree, which 
had been torn up by the roots. Their guns were 
piled against one of its branches at a little distance 
from them. These he first determined to secure, 
and, still creeping, with the skill and caution of 
an experienced scout, he succeeded in his object. 
The guns once in his possession, he aroused the 



238 DARING DEEDS 

Tories by commanding their surrender. They were 
seven in number, unarmed, and knew nothing of 
the force of the assailant. His own more timid 
followers drew near in sufficient time to assist in 
securing the prisoners. There was another "Wither- 
spoon with Marion, John, a brother of Gavin, and 
like him distinguished for great coolness, strength, 
and courage. Both of the brothers delighted in 
such adventures, and were always ready to engage 
in them, — the rashness of the attempt giving a 
sort of relish to the danger, which always sweetened 
it to the taste of our partisans. 



BLACK MIKGO. 



Marion was advised of a large body of Tories at 
Black Mingo, fifteen miles distant, under the com- 
mand of Captain John Coming Ball. Marion was 
in expectation, every moment, of additional troops, 
but he determined not to wait for them. He found 
his men in the proper mood for fight, and at such 
times small inequalities of force are not to be 



OF AMEEICAN HEEOES. 239 

regarded. He resolved to give the humor vent, 
and at once commenced his march for the enemy's 
encampment. He found the Tories strongly posted 
at Shepherd's Ferry, on the south side of the Black 
Mingo, on a deep navigable stream, the passage 
of which they commanded. There was but one 
other approach to them, about a mile above their 
position, through a boggy causeway, and over a 
bridge of planks. It was nearly midnight when 
Marion's troops reached this pass. While the 
horses were crossing the bridge, an alarm gun was 
heard from the Tory camp. Celerity now became 
as necessary to success as caution, and Marion 
ordered his men to follow him at full gallop. "When 
they reached the main road, about 800 yards from 
the enemy, the whole force, with the exception of 
a small body acting as cavalry, dismounted. A 
body of- picked men, under Captain Waties, was 
ordered down the road to attack DoUard's house, 
where the Tories had been posted. Two companies, 
under Colonel Hugh Horry, were sent to the right, 
and the cavalry to the left, to support the attack, 
Marion himself bringing up the reserve. It so 
happened, however, that the Tories had taken the 
alarm, and having withdrawn from the house, had 



24:0 DARING DEEDS 

chosen a strong position in an old field near it. 
Here they encountered Horry's command, on the 
advance, with a fire equally severe and unexpected. 
The efiect was that of a surprise upon the assail- 
ants. Horry's troops fell back in confusion, but 
were promptly rallied and brought to the charge. 
The battle was obstinate pnd bloody, but the ap- 
pearance of the corps under Waties, suddenly, in the 
rear of the Tories, soon brought it to a close. 
Finding themselves between two fires, the enemy 
gave way in all directions, and fled for refuge to 
the neighboring swamp of Black Mingo. So warmly 
contested was this afiair, that, though soon over, 
fully one third of the men brought into the field 
were put hors de combat. The loss of Marion was 
proportionably very considerable. Captain Logan 
was among his slain, and Captain Mouzon and 
Lieutenant Scott so severely wounded as to be unfit 
for future service. The force of the Tories was 
almost twice as great as that of the Whigs. They 
lost their commander, and left nearly half their 
number, killed and wounded, on the ground. But 
for the alarm given by the tread of Marion's horses, 
while crossing the neighboring bridge, the Tories 
would most probably have been surprised. At any 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 241 

rate, the affair would have been settled without 
subjecting the brigade to the severe loss which it 
sustained. After this event Marion adopted the 
precaution, whenever about to cross a bridge by 
night, with an enemy near, to cover the planks 
with the blankets of his men. Eut he generally 
preferred fords, where they could possibly be had, 
to bridsres. 



DEFEAT OF COLONEL TYNE8. 

Colonel Tynes had brought with him from 
Charleston, large supplies of the materials of war 
and comfort — commodities of which the poor 
patriots stood grievously in need. They hungered 
at the tidings brought by the scouts, of new English 
muskets and bayonets, broad-swords and pistols, 
saddles and bridles, powder and ball, which the 
provident Colonel had procured from Charleston 
for fitting out the new levies. To strike at this 
gathering, prevent new levies, and procure the 
supplies which were designed for them, were 



242 DAEING DEEDS 

controlling objects to wMcli all others were made to 
yield. The half-naked troops of the brigade found 
new motives to valor in the good things which the 
adventure promised. Tynes lay at Tarcote, in the 
forks of Black Kiver, and, as Marion was advised, 
without exercising much military watchfulness. The 
head of his column was instantly turned in this 
direction. Crossing the lower ford of the northern 
branch of Black River, at l^elson's plantation, he 
came upon the camp of Tynes at midnight. A 
hurried, but satisfactory survey, revealed the posi- 
tion of the enemy. 'No preparation had been made 
for safety, no precautions taken against attack. 
Some of the Tories slept, others feasted, and others 
were at cards — none watched. Marion made his 
arrangements for the attack without obstacle or 
interruption. The surprise was complete, — the 
panic universal. A few were slain, some with the 
cards in their hands. Tynes, with two of his 
officers, and many of his men, were made priso- 
ners, but the greater number fled. Few were slain, 
as scarcely any resistance was offered, and Tarcote 
Swamp was fortunately nigh to receive and shelter 
the fugitives, many of whom shortly made their 
appearance and took their places in the ranks of 



OF AMEKICAN HEROES. 24:3 

the conqueror. Marion lost not a man. The an- 
ticipations of his people were gratified with the 
acquisitions of no small store of those supplies, 
arms and ammunition, of which thej had previously 
stood in so much need. 



CHAPTER Vll— 1781, 



BATTLE OF EUTAW SPEINGS. 

On the 9th of September, 1781, General Greene, 
having assembled about 2000 men, proceeded to 
attack the British, who, under the command of 
Colonel Stewart, were posted at Eutaw Springs. 
The American forces were drawn up in two lines : 
the first, composed of Carolina militia, was com- 
manded bj Generals Marion and Pickens, and 
Colonel De Malmedy. The second, which consisted 
of Continental troops from North Carolina, Virginia, 
and Maryland, was commanded by General Sump- 
ter, Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, and Colonel Wil- 
liams. Lieutenant-Colonel Lee, with his legion, 
covered the right flank; and Lieutenant-Colonel 
Henderson, with the state troops, covered the left. 
A corps de reserve was formed of the cavalry, 
under Lieutenant-Colonel Washington, and the 
Delaware troops, under Captain Kirkwood. As the 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 245 

Americans came forwa-rd to the attack, they fell 
in with some advanced parties of the enemy at 
about two or three miles ahead of the main body. 
These being closely pursued, were driven back; 
and the action soon became general. The militia 
were at length forced to give way, but were bravely 
supported by the second line. In the hottest part 
of the engagement, General Greene ordered the 
Maryland and Virginia continentals to charge with 
trailed arms. This decided the fate of the day. 
"l^othing, " says Dr. Eamsey, "could surpass the 
intrepidity of both officers and men on this occa- 
sion. They rushed on, in good order, through a 
heavy cannonade, and a shower of musketry, with 
such unshaken resolution, that they bore down all 
before them. " The British were broken, closely 
pursued, and upwards of 500 of them taken pris- 
oners. They, however, made a fresh stand, in a 
favorable position, in impenetrable shrubs, and a 
picketed garden. Lieutenant-Colonel Washington, 
after having made every effort to dislodge them, 
was wounded and taken prisoner. Fom' six-poun- 
ders were then brought forward to play upon them, 
but they fell into their hands; and the endeavors 
to drive them from their station being found 



24:6 DAEING DEEDS 

impracticable, tlie Americans retired, leaving a 
strong picket on the field of battle. Their loss 
was about 500 ; that of the British upward of 1100. 

General Greene was honored by Congress, with 
a British standard, and a gold medal, emblematic 
of the engagement and its success, "for his wise, 
decisive, and magnanimous conduct in the action 
of Eutaw Springs, in which, with a force inferior 
in number to that of the enemy, he obtained a 
most signal victory." 

In the evening of the succeeding day. Colonel 
Stewart abandoned his post, and retreated toward 
Charleston, leaving behind upward of seventy of 
his wounded, and a thousancJ stand of arms. Ho 
was pursued a considerable distance, but in vain. 

The battle of Eutaw produced the most signal 
consequences in favor of America. The British, 
who had, for such a length of time, lorded it abso- 
lutely in South Carolina, were, shortly after that 
event, obliged to confine themselves to Charleston. 



BATTLE OF GUILFOED. 

The battle of Guilford Court-House took place 
on the 15th of March, 1781. The American army 
consisted of 4491 men, of whom 2753 were militia 
of !N"orth Carolina and Virginia, 1060 from the 
first state, and 1693 from the last; the British of 
about 2400 men, chiefly troops grown veteran in 
victories. The American army was drawn up in 
three lines ; the front comj)osed of l^orth Carolina 
militia, under the command of General Butler and 
General Eaton ; the second of Virginia militia, 
commanded by General Stevens and General 
Lawson ; the third and last of the Maryland and 
Virginia continentals, amounting to 1490 rank and 
file, commanded by General Huger and Colonel 
Williams. Lieutenant-Colonel Washington, with 
his cavalry, and a corps of Delaware light-infantry, 
and some riflemen under Colonel Lynch, cohered 
the right flank. Lieutenant-Colonel Lee, with his 
legion, and some riflemen under Colonel Campbell, 



248 DARING DEEDS 

tlie left. After a brisk cannonade in front, the 
British advanced in three columns, the Hessians 
on the right, the Guards in the center, and 
Lieutenant-Colonel Webster's brigade on the left, 
and attacked the front line. This gave way when 
their adversaries were at the distance of 140 yards. 
Some of the ITorth Carolina militia, who composed 
this line, fired once, but a great number ran away 
without firing or being fired upon. All exertions 
of their officers to rally them were inefiectual. The 
Virginia militia behaved much better ; kept up 
their fire till they were ordered to retreat, and did 
great execution. General Stevens had posted forty 
riflemen at equal distances, twenty paces in the 
rear of his brigade, with orders to shoot every man 
who should leave his post. This gallant" officer, 
though he received a wound through the thigh, did 
not quit the field. He had the address to prevent 
his brigade from receiving any bad impressions 
from the retreating JSTorth Carolinians, by giving 
out that they had orders to retire after discharging 
their pieces. To cherish this idea he ordered the 
militia under his command, to open their files to 
favor tlieir passage. The continental troops wero* 
last engaged, and Huger fought with great spirit 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 249 

Toward the close of the action, a charge was made 
on the British guards by the cavahy of Lieutenant- 
Colonel "Washington and the Maryland troops, 
commanded by Colonel Gunby and Lieutenant- 
Colonel Howard, with such execution that the 
whole corps was nearly annihilated. After a severe 
conflict of an hour and a half, the discipline of 
veteran troops carried the point against numbers. 
General Green abandoned the field to his rival, 
still, however, showing a good face ; he retreated no 
farther than over the Eeedy Fork, a distance of 
three miles. The Americans lost four six-pounders 
w^hich had been in possession of both armies in 
different stages of the action. This victory cost 
the British dear. Their killed and wounded ex- 
ceeded 600 men. The Guards lost Colonel Stuart, 
with the Captains Schutz, Maynard and Goodriche, 
besides subalterns. Colonel Webster, an officer of 
distinguished reputation, died of his wounds, to the* 
great injury of the service, and the universal regret 
of the royal army. Brigadier-Generals O'Hara and 
Howard, and Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton, with 
several other officers, were wounded. 

About 300 of the continentals and 100 of the 
Virginia militia were killed and wounded ; among 



250 DARING DEEDS 

the former was Major Anderson, of the Maryland 
line, a valuable officer, and the same who behaved 
so well in General Gates's defeat. Among the 
latter were General Huger and General Stevens. 
The early retreat of the ISTorth Carolinians saved 
them from much loss. Though the Americans had 
fewer killed and wounded than the British, yet 
their army sustained a greater diminution by the 
numerous fugitives from the militia, who no more 
rejoined the camp. Lord Cornwallis suffered so 
severely, that he was in no condition to improve 
the advantage he had gained. The British had 
only the name, the Americans all the good con- 
sequences of a victory. General Greene retreated, 
and Lord Cornwallis kept the field; but, not^^-ith- 
standing, the British interest, in North Carolina, 
was ruined by this action. Three days after the 
battle Lord Cornwallis issued a proclamation, setting 
•forth his complete victory, and calling on all loyal 
subjects to stand forth, and take an active part in 
restoring good order and government ; and offering 
a pardon and protection to all rebels, murderers 
excepted, who would surrender themselves on or 
before the 20th of April. On the day on which 
this proclamation was issued, his lordship left his 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 251 

hospital and seventj-live wounded men with tlie 
numerous loyalists in the vicinity of Guilford, and 
began a march toward the sea-coast, which had 
the appearance of a retreat. Thirteen days before 
the expiration of this act of grace, he had reached 
his shipping at Wilmington, all the upper country 
reniaining in the power of General Greene's army. 



SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 

The autumn of 17S0 found the British in posses- 
sion of most of tlie southern states. Charleston 
had fallen. South Carolina had been overrun, 
Virginia was threatened ; and the victorious Gates, 
advancing to the succor of the patriots, had been 
totally destroyed at Camden. But the savage policy 
adopted by Cornwallis to secure his conquest was 
ultimately the cause of his ruin. He issued a pro- 
clamation, sequestering the estates of all those, not 
included in the cajDitulation of Charleston, who 
were in the service or acting under the authority 

of Congress, and of all others who, by an open 
12 



252 DARING DEEDS 

avowal of liberal j)i'i^ciples, or other notorious 
acts, should show a leaning to the colonial authori- 
ties. At this juncture Marion ap]3eared ; the militia 
flocked to his standard ; and the success of the 
partisan war carried on bj him and Sumpter raised 
the drooping spirits of the whigs. The appointment 
of Greene to the command of the southern army, 
and the brilliant affair at the Cowpens, still further 
exalted their hopes ; so that even the check at 
Guilford Court-House failed to dishearten them. 
Indeed, the result of that battle was almost as un- 
favorable to the British as to the Americans. In 
a few days Greene was ready to renew the contest ; 
but Cornwallis eluded his grasp, and reached Wil- 
mington, in his way to Yirginia, on the Ttli of 
April, 1781. The American leader, fiuding it im- 
possible to bring his enemy to battle, took the bold 
resolution of marching into South Ca/olina, and 
thus forcing Cornwallis to follow him or abandon 
his conquests. The British general, on receiving 
intelligence of this movement, hesitated, but finalljr 
determined to pursue his first design, and overrun 
Virginia. By this daring step he would piac-<i his 
army in a country not yet wasted by war, and 
where, consequently, supplies would be plentiful ; 




LA FAYETTE AT YORKTOWN", 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 253 

while, if he should succeed in reducing the colony, 
the subjugation of the other southern states would 
inevitably follow, no matter how fortunate Greene, 
in the mean time, might be. 

For a time success followed every footstep of the 
foe. Cornwallis, advancing rapidly northward, had 
imited himself to the British Generals Philips and 
Arnold, as early as the latter end of May; while 
La Fayette, who had been dispatched to succor 
Greene, but had been arrested by the enemy on 
the James Eiver, was preserved from capture only 
by his energy and address. At length a junction 
was effected between him and Wayne, and subse- 
quently a detachment led by Baron Steuben still 
further increased his force. Happily, at this crisis, 
Sir Henry Clinton, alarmed by "Washington's pre- 
parations for the siege of ITew York, recalled a 
portion of the force of Cornwallis, and that general, 
now somewhat weakened, retired to Yorktown. 

The whole of the French allies and 2000 of the 
continental line were detailed for the southern ex- 
pedition, which "Washington determined to lead in 
person : the march of the troops was concealed aa 
long as possible, while a sufficient force was left 
to defend the Hudson ; and so completely was Sir 



254 DAKING DEEDS 

Henry Clinton deceiyed, that the allied forces had 
reached the Delaware before he became aware of 
their intention to move southward. 

The brave continentals traversed now, with far dif- 
ferent feelings, the ground over which they had fled 
a few years before, ill-provisioned, poorly clothed, 
and marking their footsteps with blood. There was 
before them the pros]3ect of reducing a formidable 
army, with but little expense of blood and treasure, 
and thus revenging their own wrongs and redeem- 
ing their country. They had already eluded Sir 
Henry Clinton, and a few days would probably 
enable them to surround Cornwallis. They marched 
on with high hopes, cheering their way with songs, 
and before the end of September arrived at "Wil- 
liamsburgh, in the immediate vicinity of the foe. 
Meantime, the French fleet, in pursuance of the 
concerted plan, had reached the Chesapeake, while 
Cornwallis, too late aware of the net in which he 
was involved, had been assiduously occupied in 
fortifying his position. 

Having formed a junction with La Fayette, the 
allied army, commanded by "Washington in person, 
moved down from "Williamsburgh to Yorktown ; 
and on the 30th of September occupied the outer 



OF AMEKICAN IIEKOES. 255 

lines of Cornwallis, which that general had aban- 
doned without a struggle. Two thousand men were 
detailed to the Gloucester side to blockade that 
post. The investment was now complete. 

It was not, however, until the night of the 6th of 
October that the Americans broke ground, within 
1600 yards of the enemy's lines, the intermediate 
time having been employed in bringing up the 
stores and heavy artillery. By daybreak the 
trenches were sufficiently advanced to cover the 
men. In less than four days a sufficient number 
of batteries and redoubts had been erected to 
silence the fire of the enemy. On the 10th, the 
day on which the British withdrew their cannon 
from the embrasures, the red-hot balls of the allied 
batteries set fire to an Eno-lish fris-ate and three 
large transports lying in the harbor. On the night 
of the 11th the second parallel was opened within 
300 yards of the British lines. These new trenches 
were flanked by two redoubts in possession of the 
enemy, who, taking advantage of the circumstance, 
opened several new embrasures, and kept up an 
incessant and destructive fire. It became necessary 
to carry these batteries by storm ; and the 14th 
was fixed for the purpose : one redoubt being 



256 DARING DEEDS 

assierned to the Americans and the other to the 
French. A noble emulation fired the soldiers of 
the respective nations as thej advanced across the 
plain. La Fayette led the continentals : the Baron 
de Yiominel commanded his countrymen. The re- 
doubt entrusted to the Americans was carried at 
the bayonet's point, the assailants rushing on with 
such impetuosity that the sappers had not time 
to remove the abattis and palisades. The French 
were equally courageous and successful, though, as 
their redoubt was defended by a larger force, the 
conquest was not so speedy, and their loss was 
greater. 

Cornwallis was now reduced to extremities. His 
works were crumbling under the shot of the first 
parallel, and in another day the new trenches 
would open their fire at half the distance. In this 
emergency he resolved on a sortie, hoping thus to 
retard the completion of the batteries in the second 
parallel. The enterprise was, at first, successful, 
and the two batteries, which were now nearly com- 
pleted, fell into the hands of the foe ; but the 
guards from the trenches immediately hastening 
to the assistance of their fellow soldiers, the enemy 
was dislodged and driven back into his works. The 



OP AMERICAN HEROES. 257 

same day the second parallel opened several of its 
batteries. It was hoped that, by morning, every 
gun might be brought to bear. 

A capitulation was now the only resource. Ac- 
cordingly, at ten the same forenoon, Cornwallis 
beat a parley, and proposed a cessation of hostili- 
ties for one day, in order to agree on terms for 
the surrender of Yorktown and Gloucester. "Wash- 
ington granted two hours for Cornwallis to prepare 
his proposals ; and, that no time might be lost, 
sent in his own. The answer of the British gene- 
ral rendering it probable that but little difficulty 
would occur in adjusting the terms, "Washington 
consented to the cessation of hostilities. On the 
18th, the commissioners from the two armies met; 
but evening arrived before they could agree except 
on a rough draft of the terms of surrender. These, 
however, Washington caused to be copied, a.^d 
sent them early next morning to Cornwallis, deter- 
mined not to lose the slightest advantage by delay. 
He further informed the British general that a 
definitive answer was expected by eleven o'clock ; 
and that, in case of a surrender, the garrison must 
march out by two in the afternoon. Ko resource 

being left, Cornwallis signed. 

13* 18 



258 DARING DEEDS 

It was a proud day for the war-worn troops ol 
America, when the richly appointed soldiery of 
Britain marched out with dejected faces from their 
works, and in profound silence stacked their arms 
on the plain, in presence of the conquerors. . But 
no unmanly exultation was seen among the allies. 
With decent inty they gazed on the spectacle, 
reserving their congratulations for their private 
quarters. But there, the rejoicings were loud and 
fervent, and the gay Frenchman from the Loire 
joined in triumphal songs with the hardy sons of 
New England, or the more enthusiastic Yirginian. 

By the capitulation, more than YOOO prisoners, 
exclusive of seamen, fell into the hands of the 
allies. Among the captives were two generals, and 
thirty-one field ofiicers. The army, artillery, arms, 
military chest, and public stores were surrendered 
to Washington ; while the ships and seamen were 
assigned to Count de Grasse, the French admiral 
In addition to those made prisoners at the capitu- 
lation, the loss of the garrison, during the siege, 
was 552. The allied army lost about 300. The 
whole force, including the militia, under AYashing- 
ton's command, was 16000. The siege occupied 



i 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 259 

eleven days to the opening of the treaty, and 
thirteen to the signing of the capitulation. 

On the very day when the capitulation was 
signed at Yorktown, Sir Henry Clinton sailed from 
Sandy Hook with 7000 men to relieve Cornwallis ; 
but on the 24:th, when off the capes of Yirginia, 
having received intelligence of the surrender, he 
altered his course for "New York. 

This brilliant result was achieved chiefly by the 
energy and wisdom of Washington. A delay of 
one week would have frustrated his plans, relieved 
Cornwallis, and protracted the war, perhaps, for 
years. 



BATTLE OF HOBKIEK HILL. 

Early in April, Greene arrived at a place called 
Hobkirk's Hill, about a mile from Eawdon's en- 
campment at Camden. He established his head- 
quarters there, but was soon after attacked by the 
British commander, and a desperate battle ensued. 
For a long time, the result was doubtful. Greena 



260 DAKING DEEDS 

anticipating victory, sent a detacliment to cut oft 
tlie expected retreat of Eawdon, but a regiment 
from Maryland becoming confused by a furious 
charge of the enemy, disconcerted the others, and 
soon the rout of the Americans became general. 
But Greene so far restored order that he retreated 
with deliberation, and succeeded in carrying off 
six English officers prisoners. He retired with his 
army to Eugely's Mills, where, after some days, 
Hawdon, who had received a reinforcement of 400 
men, (whom Marion had endeavored in vain to 
intercept,) attempted to surprise him at night. 
Greene retreated to Saunder's Creek, where Raw- 
don made an ineffectual effort to dislodge him, 
and who, after burning the jail, mills, j^i'i^^t© 
houses, and some of his own stores, evacuated Cam- 
ien, and retreated south of the Santee River. 

During the march of Greene to Ilobkirk's Hill, 
he dispatched Colonel Lee with his legion to join 
General Marion on the Santee, for the purpose of 
operating against a chain of British forts established 
between the Santee and the Congaree, the most 
important of which was Fort Watson on "Wright's 
Bluff. Marion and Lee, although provided with 
nothing but muskets and rifles, closely invested that 



OF AMEKICAN HEROES. 261 

fort. After a resistance of eight days, the garrison 
was obliged to yield, and 114 men surrendered 
themselves prisoners of war. Several other British 
posts fell in rapid succession before the victorious 
Americans. Orangeburgh surrendered to Sumpter 
on the 11th of May; Fort Motte to Marion and 
Lee on the 12th ; the post at ]N"elson's Ferry was 
evacuated on the llrth by the British ; Fort Granby 
capitulated to Lee on the loth ; and on the 21st, 
a detachment of Lee's legion, under Captain Ru- 
dolph, reduced the fort at Silver Bluffs. Early in 
June, Lee and Pickens, having united their forces, 
penetrated into Georgia, and attacked Fort Corn- 
wallis, at Augusta. The garrison, after a stout re- 
sistance, surrendered, and over 300 men became 
prisoners of war. The Americans lost during the 
siege about forty men. Marion, in the mean while, 
closely invested Georgetown, and the garrison, 
learning the downfall of the other posts in the 
vicinity, evacuated the town. The British were 
now confined to three posts, — Kinety-six, Eutaw 
S[>riiigs, and Charleston. 



MAKIOK AND THE BEITISH OFFICER. 

It was while Marion was lying with his main 
force at the camp at Snow's Island, that two cir 
cumstances occurred which deserve mention, as 
equally serving to illustrate his own character, and 
the warfare of that time and region. One of these 
occurrences has long been a popular anecdote, and, 
as such, has been made the subject of a very 
charming picture, which has done something toward 
giving it a more extended circulation. The other 
is less generally known, but is not less deserving 
of the popular ear, as distinguishing, quite as 
much as the former, the purity, simplicity, and 
firmness of Marion's character. It appears that, 
desiring the exchange of prisoners, a young officer 
was dispatched from the British post at George- 
town to the swamp encampment of Marion, in 
order to effect this object. He was encountered 
by one of the scouting parties of the brigade, care- 
fully blindfolded, and conducted, by intricate paths. 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 263 

through the wild passes, and into the deep recesses 
of the island. Here, when his eyes were uncovered^ 
he found himself surrounded by a motley multitude, 
which might well remind him of Eobin Hood 
and his outlaws. The scene was unquestionably 
wonderfully picturesque and attractive, aud our 
young officer seems to have been duly impressed 
by it. He was in the middle of one of those 
grand natural amphitheatres so common in our 
swamp forests, in which the massive pine, the 
gigantic cypress, and the stately and ever-green 
laurel, streaming with moss, and linking their op- 
posite arms, inflexibly locked in the embrace of 
centuries, group 'together, with elaborate limbs and 
leaves, the chief and most grateful features of 
Gothic architecture. To these recesses, through 
the massed foliage of the forest, the sunlight came 
as sparingly, and with rays as mellow and subdued, 
as through the painted window of the old cathe- 
dral, falling upon aisle and chancel. Scattered 
around, were the forms of those hardy warriors 
with whom our young officer was yet destined, 
most probably, to meet in conflict, — strange or 
savage in costume or attitude — lithe and sinewy 
of frame — keen-eyed and wakeful at the least 



264 DARING DEEDS 

alarm. Some slept, some joined in boyish sports; 
some, with foot in stirrup, stood ready for the sig- 
nal to mount and march. The deadly rifle leaned 
against the tree, the sabre depended from its 
boughs. Steeds were browsing in the shade, with 
loosened bits, but saddled, ready at the first sound 
of the bugle to shirr through brake and thicket. 
Distant fires, dimly burning, sent up their faint 
white smokes, that, mingling with the thick forest 
tops, which they could not pierce, were scarce 
distinguishable from the long gray moss which 
made the old trees look like so many ancient pa- 
triarchs. Eut the most remarkable object in all 
this scene was Marion himself. Could it be that 
the person who stood before our visitor — " in stat- 
ure of the smallest size, thin, as well as low" — 
was that of the redoubted chief, whose sleepless 
activity and patriotic zeal had carried terror to the 
gates of Charleston; had baffled the pursuit and 
defied the arms of the best British captains ; had 
beaten the equal enemy, and laughed at the supe- 
rior? Certainly, if he were, then never were the 
simple resources of intellect, as distinguishable 
from strength of limb, or powers of muscle, so 
wonderfully evident as in this particular instance. 



OF AMERICAN HEKOES. 2G5 

The phjRical powers of Marion 'were those simply 
of endurance. His frame had an iron hardihood, 
derived from severe discipline and subdued desires 
and appetites, but lacked the necessary muscle 
•and capacit'es of the mere soldier. It was as tlie 
genera], the commander, the counselor, rather than 
as the simj^le leader of his men, that Marion takes 
rank, and is to be considered in the annals of war. 
He attempted no physical achievements, and seems 
to have placed very little reliance upon his personal 
prowess. 

The British visitor was a young man who had 
never seen Marion. The great generals whom he 
w^as accustomed to see, were great of limb, portly, 
and huge of proportion. Such was Cornwallis, and 
others of the British army. Such, too, was the 
case among the Americans. The average weight 
of these opposing generals, during that war, is 
stated at more than 200 pounds. The successes of 
Marion must naturally have led our young English- 
man to look for something in his stature even 
above this average, and verging on the gigantic. 
Yastness seems always the most necessary agent 
in provoking youthful wonder, and satisfying it. 
His astonishment, when he found they did meet, 



2G6 DAKING DEEDS 

Was, in all probability, not of a kind to lessen the 
partisan in his estimation. That a frame so slight, 
and seemingly so feeble, coupled with so much 
gentleness, and so little pretension, should provoke 
a resjject so general, and fears, on one side, so 
impressive, was well calculated to compel inquiry 
as to the true sources of this influence. Such an 
inquiry was in no way detrimental to a rejmtation 
founded, like Marion's, on the successful exercise 
of peculiar mental endowments. The young officer, 
as soon as his business was dispatched, j^i'epared 
to depart, but Marion gently detained him, as he 
said, for dinner, which was in preparation. "The 
mild and dignified simplicit}^ of Marion's manners 
had already produced their effects, and, to prolong 
so interesting an interview, the invitation was ac- 
cej)ted." The entertainment was served up on pieces 
of bark, and consisted entirely of roasted potatoes, 
of which the general ate heartily, requesting his 
guest to profit by his example, repeating the old 
adage, that ' hunger is the best sauce. ' " But 
surely, general, " said the officer, " this cannot be 
yonr ordinary fare. " " Indeed, sir, it is, " he re- 
plied, "and we are fortunate on this occasion^ 
entertaining company, to have more than our usual 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 267 

allowance. " The story goes, that the young Briton 
was so greatly impressed with the occurrence, that, 
on his return to Georgetown, he retired from the 
service, declaring his conviction that men who could, 
with such content, endure the privations of such a 
life, were not to be subdued. His conclusion was 
strictly logical, and hence, indeed, the importance 
of such a warfare as that carried on by Marion, 
in which, if he obtained no great victories, he was 
vet never to be overcome. 



CAPTUKE OF FORT WATSOK. 

Having once resolved, Marion's movements were 
always rapid and energetic. On the 15th of April, 
only a day after the junction with Lee, he was 
before Fort Watson. 

This was a stockade fort, raised on one of those 
remarkable elevations of an unknown antiquity 
w^hich are usually recognized as Indian mounds. 
It stands near Scott's Lake on the Santee river, a 
few miles below the junction of the Congaree and 



268 DARING DEEDS 

"Wateree. The mound is forty feet in height, and 
remote from any other elevation, by which it might 
be commanded. The garrison at this post consisted 
of eighty regular troops and forty loyalists, it was 
commanded by Lieutenant McXay, a brave officer, 
of the regular service. To the summons of Marion 
he returned a manly defiance, and the lAsice was 
regularly invested. 

Besieged and besiegers were alike without artil- 
lery ; with a single piece, the former might well 
have defied any force which Marion could bring 
against him. The place would have been impreg- 
nable to the Americans. As it was, its steej) sides 
and strong palisades forbade any attempt to storm. 
To cut off the garrison from Scott's Lake, where 
it procured water, was the first step taken by the 
besiegers. But the besieged, by sinking a well 
within the stockade, below the level of the contigu- 
ous water, counteracted the attempt. For a mo- 
ment, the assailants were at fault, and, without 
artillery, the prospect w^as sufficiently discouraging. 
But while doubting and hesitating. Colonel Maham, 
of the brigade, suggested a mode of overawing the 
garrison which was immediately adopted. At a 
short distance from the fort there grew a small 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 269 

wood, a number of tlie trees of wliicli were hewn 
down, and transported upon the shoulders of the 
men withm a proper distance of the mound. Here, 
during the night all hands were actively employed 
in piling the wood thus brought, in massive and 
alternate layers, cross-wise, until the work had 
reached a sufficient elevation. At dawn, the ear- 
rison were confounded to find themselves, at 
wakening, under a shower of rifle bullets. Thus 
overlooked, the fort was no longer tenable ; and a 
party of volunteers from the militia, headed by 
Ensign Baker, and another of Continentals, from 
the legion, led by Mr. Lee, a volunteer, ascended 
the mound with great intrepidity, and gained the 
abattis, which they proceeded to destroy. This 
movement brought the garrison to terms, and a 
enpitulation immediately followed. 



CAPTUKE OF FOET MOTTE. 

This post was the principal depot of the convoys 
from Charleston to Camden, and sometimes of 



270 D A R T N O DEEDS 

those destined for Forts Granby and NInety-SIx. A 
large new mansion-house belonging to Mrs. Motte, 
situated on a high and commanding hill, had been 
chosen for this establishment. It was surrounded 
with a deep trench, along the inner margin of 
which a strong and lofty para])ct was raised. To 
tliis post had been assigned a sufficient garrison of 
150 men. This force was increased by a small 
detachment of dragoons from Charleston, which liad 
been thrown into it a few hours before the appear 
ance of the Americans. The gari-ison v/ns com- 
manded by Captain McPherson, a firm and gallant 
officer. 

Opposite to Fort Motte, to tlie north, stood 
aiiotlicr hill, where Mrs. Motte, wIjo liad been ex- 
])elled from licr dwelling, resided in an okl farm- 
house. On this, Lee took position witli liis corps; 
Marion's men occupied the eastern declivity of tlie 
same ridge on wliich stood the f n-t. 

The place was very soon invested. The six- 
])0under with which Greene had furnislied Marion, 
was mounted on a battery raised in the quarter 
which he occnpie<l, for the ])urpose of raking the 
m)rthei-n face of the enemy's parapet. ^IcFherson 
was ill the ])ossessio]i of a wall-pioce, b'.it he had 



OF AMERICAN HEROES 2T * 

not been able to adapt it for use befoir* the invest^ 
ment took place. It does not seem t^ Lav^ been 
used during even the siege. His chief hopes lay 
in being relieved by a detachment from Camden, 
not doubting its arrival before his assailant could 
])ush his preparations to maturity. The works of 
the latter advanced rapidly, and the place was 
summoned on the 20th of May. The reply declared 
the determination of the besieged to try the 
strength and patience of the besiegers. These had 
now every motive for perseverance. They were ad- 
vised of the approach of Kawdon, with all his force, 
to the relief of the fort. That stern commander, 
finding Camden was no longer tenable against the 
iiici'casing forces of the Americans, and unable to 
maintain his several posts with his diminished 
strength, was aiming to contract his scattered bodies 
into narrower limits. Having made a second, but 
unsatisfactory demonstration upon Greene, he de- 
stroyed his unnecessary baggage, and, leaving Cam- 
den in flames, he once more abandoned it to the 
Americans. Greene advised Marion of his retreat, 
and urged him to expedition. On the next night 
lie reached the country opposite Fort Motte, and 
*iis numerous fires on tlie hii'hest o-rounds on his 



272 DARING DEEDS 

route, encouraged tlie garrison with ho]:>es of suc- 
cess, which were not to be realized. 

What was to be done, was to be done quickly, 
on the part of the besiegers. The process of bat- 
tering by cannon would be too slow. Some shorter 
mode was to be adopted, to anticipate the approach 
of Rawdon. The ready thought of our partisan 
suofo^ested this process. It was known that the 
large mansion of Mrs. Motte occupied the greater 
part of the area of the fort ; but a few yards of 
ground within the works remained uncovered by 
it. To burn the house by fire would compel the 
surrender of the garrison. 

The necessity was very reluctantly communi- 
cated to the widow by whom the property was 
owned. But she was one of those glorious dames 
of the Revolution, to whom the nation is so largely 
indebted for the glory of that event. She had re- 
ceived the American officers with a hospitality which 
made them almost shrink from suo:2:estin2: their 
purposes ; but as soon as they were made known, 
she put them perfectly at ease upon the subject. 
With something more than cheerfulness — with 
pride — that any sacrifice on her part should con- 
tribute to the success of her countrymen, in so dear 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 2T3 

ar^ object, slie herself produced a bow, with all tlie 
necessary apparatus, wbich had been brought from 
India, and which she had preserved. By the 
irrows from this bow the fire was to be communi- 
cated to her dwelling. 

Every thing being in readiness, the lines were 
manned and an additional force stationed at the 
batteries, lest the enemy, in the moment, of des- 
peration, might prefer risking an assault, rather 
than endure the mortification of a surrender. A 
flag was again sent to McPherson, but the sight 
of Eawdon's fires on the other side of the river 
encouraged him with the belief that he might still 
resist successfully. 

The bow was put into the hands of E'athan Sav- 
age, a private in Marion's brigade. It was noon 
when the attempt was made. The scorching rays 
of the noonday sun had prepared the roof for the 
conflagration. Balls of blazing rosin and brimstone 
were attached to the arrows, and three several 
shafts were sent by the vigorous arm of the militia- 
man against the roof. They took eflfect, in three 
different quarters, and the shingles were soon in a 
blaze. McPherson immediately ordered a party to 

the roof, but this had been prepared for, and the 
13 10 



274 DARING DEEDS 

fire of the six-ponnder soon drove tlie soldiers down. 
Tlie flames began to rage, the besiegers were on 
the alert, guarding every passage, and, no longer 
hopeful of Kawdon, McPherson hung out the white 
flag imploring mercy. The gentle nature of Marion 
readily yielded to his prayer, though, as Lee tells 
us, " policy commanded death." 



LA FAYETTE IN YIKGINIA. 

Early in the summer of 1781, all eyes were 
turned toward Virginia ; and La Fayette, in proud 
consciousness of the interest he was exciting, the 
more resolutely determined to triumph. JSTo ex- 
citement can be traced in any of his letters during 
this period. He seems coolly to have extricated 
himself from his various difficulties as fast as they 
arose, and as calmly to have narrated them. 
Witness the following, addressed to General Greene, 
dated at his camp, June 3d : 

"Lord Cornwallis had at first a project to cross 
above Kichmond, but desisted from it and landed 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. * 275 

at Westover. He tlien proposed to turn our left 
flank, but before it was executed we moved by the 
left to the forks of Chiccahomony. The enemy 
advanced twelve miles, and we retreated in the 
same proportion. They crossed Chiccahomony and 
advanced on the road to Fredericksburg, while 
we marched in a parallel with them, keeping the 
upper part of the country. Our position at Matta- 
pony church would have much exposed the enemy's 
flank on their way to Fredericksburgh, but they 
stopped at Cook's ford on the !N'orth Anna River, 
where they are for the present. General "Wayne 
having announced to me his departure on the 
23d, I expected, before this time, to have made a 
junction with him. "We have moved back some 
distance and are cautious not to indulge Lord 
Cornwallis with an action with our present force. 

It was not long before Cornwallis, with great 
chagrin saw that the " boy " was successfully elud- 
ing his grasp. The distance between them daily 
increased, notwithstanding all the efforts made by 
the British General to overtake his foe. "With a 
rapidity only equaled by his caution, La Fayette 
had passed the Pamunkey before the British army 
had reached the Chiccahomony, and Cornwallis, 



276 DARING DEEDS 

after marcliiiig some distance up the northern side 
of IsTorthanora, found that the Marquis would make 
his junction with Wayne in spite of him, and gave 
over the heat of his pursuit while he turned his 
attention to other objects which were more attain- 
able. La Fayette, however, did not relax his vigi- 
lance. A close watch of his adversary enabled him 
to foresee, and thereby frustrate, some of his most 
important plans. Cornwallis found himself harassed 
and frequently outwitted, exceedingly to his morti- 
fication. He dispatched Tarleton to capture the 
Assembly of Yirginia, which was then in session 
at Charlotte ville ; but before Tarleton could get 
there, La Fayette had contrived to forward tlie in- 
formation, and when the British arrived, — the hwds 
had flown. 

General Wayne, with the Pennsylvania line, con 
sisting of about 800 men, at length joined him. 
Though this addition left the force of La Fayette 
still feeble, in comparison with that of Cornwallis, 
it was yet sufficient to determine him jipon a new 
course of action. The pursued would become the 
pursuer. 

Cornwallis established himself at Williamsburg, 
and La Fayette about twenty miles above, with 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 277 

tlie Chiccaliomony between himself and his adver- 
sary. ^N'either party, however, remained in this 
position long. Sir Henry Clinton suspecting that 
a combined attempt was about to be made by the 
allied forces against "New York, and deeming him- 
self too weak to resist it, ordered Cornwallis to 
send him a detachment of the troops under his 
command in Yirginia. After complying with this 
requisition, Cornwallis thought himself not strong 
enough to remain at Williamsburg, and resolved 
to retire to Portsmouth. Accordingly, on the 4th 
of July, he marched from Williamsburg, and de- 
termining to cross the river at James' City Island, 
he encamped that day favorably for the passage. 
But before he was ready to move, his foe was near 
him. La Fayette left his camp on the 5th, crossed 
the Chiccahomony the same day, and pushed his 
best troops within eight miles of the British camj). 
He learned that Cornwallis was expecting to pass 
the river, and he at once formed the design of 
attacking his rear after the main body should have 
gone over to Jamestown. Cornwallis, however, sus- 
pected this. He knew that the ardor of La Fay- 
ette would not allow such an opportunity to escape 
him, and as soon as he found that the Marquis 



278 DAKING DEEDS 

was SO near, he resolved to make one more trial of 
stratagem upon him. He took every measure to 
encourage his advance, but instead of passing the 
river, he waited an attack. At the same time he 
took measures to induce the belief, that he had 
crossed with the main body of his army. His light 
parties were all drawn in, his troops were held 
compact, and made to cover as little ground as 
possible, and his piquets, which lay close to the 
encampment, were ordered to' yield at the first 
attack, and exhibit an appearance of disorder and 
alarm. To add to the deception, the intelligence 
was spread, that the greater part of the British 
had reached the island, and a few troops were sta- 
tioned there, with orders to make such demonstra- 
tions as would corroborate this news. 

La Fayette was fully deceived. The plans of 
Cornwallis were so complete, and were carried out 
so accurately, that he could not perceive the snare. 
Every thing looked as he had anticipated ; after 
personally reconnoitering the scene, and receiving 
all the intelligence he could meet. La Fayette, on 
the 6th of July, began his attack. A few riflemen 
were detached to harass the outposts of the enemy, 
while he advanced at the head of the continental 



OF AMERICAN II E K O E S . 279 

troops to support the onset. Eveiy thing was 
conducted precisely as Cornwallis had planned. 
His piquets fell back in disorder, and thus drew 
on the Americans, emboldened by their success, 
in a rapid pursuit. The main body of Cornwallis' 
army was concealed hj woods, and General "Wayne, 
who was first in advance, soon discovered it moving 
out in order of battle against him. Eetreat was 
impossible, and that brave officer, with a boldness 
almost without parallel, rode gallantly forward, with 
his 800 men, and made a furious attack upon the 
British line. The action was kept up with spirit 
for some time, while the British army was wind- 
ing its fold, like a serpent around the little band. 
La Fayette soon came up, and saw at a glance the 
crisis. The plan of Cornwallis was evident in a 
moment, and perceiving that TTayne was outflanked 
right and left, and fast becoming surrounded, he 
ordered his retreat. A line of light infantry was 
drawn up about half a mile in his rear, and by a 
skillful movement Wayne was enabled to join these 
without serious loss. Here they remained for some 
hours, but the British army did not pursue. Corn- 
wallis, who greatly overrated La Fayette's numbers, 
judged that his retreat was a stratagem to draw 



280 BAKING DEEDS 

him into an ambuscade, and accordingly did not 
improve the advantage he had gained. The loss 
of La Fayette in this action was 118 men, most 
of whom belonged to General Wayne's detachment. 
The conduct of this latter officer during the day 
was worthy of all praise. "It is enough," says 
La Fayette, " for the glory of General "Wayne, and 
the officers and men he commanded, to have at- 
tacked the whole British army, with a reconnoiter- 
ing party onl}^, close to their encampment, and, by 
this severe skirmish, hastened their retreat over 
the river. 



CHAPTER VIII 1781—1804. 



WAYNE'S VICTORY AT THE MIAMI RAPIDS. 

On the 20tli of August, 1791, the army of Gen- 
eral "Wayne was put in motion, a battalion of 
mounted volunteers, commanded by Major Price, 
forming the advance. This corps was attacked, after 
marching nearly Slyq miles, and received so hot a 
fire from the enemy, who were concealed in the 
high grass and woods, as to compel it to fall back. 
The army was immediately formed by General 
Wayne in two lines, in a close thick wood, while 
the savages were drawn up in three lines, near 
enough to support" each other, at right angles with 
the river. " I soon discovered," says the General, 
in his account of the engagement, written to Gen- 
eral Knox, " from the weight of the fire, and extent 
of their lines, that the enemy were in full force 
in front, in possession of their favorite ground, 
and endeavoring to turn our left flank. I gave 



282 DARING DEEDS 

orders for the second line to advance, and directed 
Major-General Scott to gain and turn the right 
flank of the savages, with the mounted volunteers, 
by a circuitous route. At the same time, I ordered 
the front line to advance with trailed arms, and 
rouse the Indians from their coverts at the point 
of the bayonet; and when up, to deliver a close 
and well directed lire on their backs, so as not to 
give time to load again. I also ordered Captain 
Cam^^bell, who commanded the legionary cavalry, 
to turn the left flank of the enemy, next the river, 
and which afforded a favorable field for that corps 
to act in. All these orders were obej^ed with spirit 
and promptitude ; but such was the impetuosity 
of the charge of the fii'st line of infantry, that the 
Indians and Canadian militia and volunteers were 
driven from their coverts in so short a time, that, 
although every exertion was used by the officers 
of the second line of the legion, and by Generals 
Scott, Todd, and Barbee, of the mounted volunteers, 
to gain their proper positions, yet but a part of 
each could get up in season to participate in the 
action, — the enemy being driven, in the course of 
one hour, more than two miles through the thick 
woods already mentioned, by less than one-half 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 283 

their numbers. From every account, tlie enemy 
amounted to 2000 combatants ; the troops actually 
engaged against them were short of 900. This 
horde of savages, with their allies, abandoned them- 
selves to flight, and dispersed, with terror and 
dismay, leaving our victorious army in full and 
quiet possession of the field of battle, which termi- 
nated under the influence of the British garrison, 
as you will observe by the inclosed corresj)ondence 
between Major Campbell, the commandant, and 
myself." 

The correspondence referred to was sufficiently 
pungent in its tone ; and the British commander 
having taken occasion to give notice to General 
"Wayne " that his army, or individuals belonging 
to it, should not approach within reach of his 
cannon, without expecting the consequences attend- 
ing it," the answer he received was, the imme- 
diate destruction by fire of every thing of any value 
within view of the fort, and up to the very muz- 
zles of the guns. The fort was carefully recon- 
noitred within pistol-shot, and it is easy to perceive, 
that nothing would have gratified the feelings of 
the successful soldier more than an act of hostility 
on the part of the British commandant which 



284: DARING DEEDS 

would have justified him in carrying the works by 
storm. 

This victory was followed by the treaty of Greene- 
ville, the result of which was a long peace with 
the Indians. 



CAPTUKE OF L'mSURGElS^TE. 

On the 9th of February, 1799, Commodore Trux- 
ton, in the Constellation, came in sight of a large 
ship, and immediately gave chase. The stranger 
hoisted American colors ; but, nnable to answer 
the Constellation's private signals, she ran np the 
French ensign, and fired a challenge. For the first 
time since the Revolution, one of our national 
vessels was in sight of an enemy. "We had fought 
and triumphed on land ; now we were to meet the 
powers of the old world upon sea. Every man 
was eager to engage ; and, as the gallant ship 
moved down uj)on the enemy, her speed seemed 
too small to meet the anxious longing of her crew. 
They were not disappointed. The Insurgente waited 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 285 

calmly for Ler opponent; and, when the latter 
opened her fire, returned it with spirit. The silence 
was broken ; the eager antagonists had their wish ; 
and one loud cannonade roared across the solitarj/- 
waters, rocking the surface of ocean like an earth- 
quake, and heaving the ships to and fro with 
mighty energy, l^earer and nearer they drew to 
each other, and louder and fiercer the conflict grev/, 
until nothing was heard but the roar of heavy ordi- 
nance, and nothing seen except a thick black pall, 
shooting forth columns of flame. Volleys of heavy 
shot were poured into the American foretop-mast, 
until it reeled and swung backward under the ter- 
rible blows. The young midshipman who com- 
manded it, (David Porter,) called again and again 
to his superior for leave to lower the sail and 
relieve the pressure ; but his voice was lost in the 
uproar of battle. Feeling that the mast must fall, 
unless this were done, he assumed the responsibility, 
and thus saved the ship from a serious misfortune. 
Hei' broadsides now raked the enemy from stem 
to stern, crashing masts, sails, and rigging, and 
strewing the deck with dead aud dying. The Con- 
stellation then glided from the shroud of smoke, 
sailed round to her opponent's rear, and was on 



286 DARING DEEDS 

the point of raking her again, when the latter feo-uc^ 
her colors. 

The Insurgente was one of the fastest sailers i'l 
the French navy, and was under the comman^: 
of Captain Barreanlt. She carried fortj Frencl 
twelve-pounders, and 409 men. Her loss was 
twenty-nine killed, and forty-one wounded. Th^ 
Constellation had thirty-eight guns, (English call 
bre,) 300 and nine men, and had three of her crev 
wounded. 

An incident subsequent to the battle deserves 
mention. The first lieutenant of the Constellation, 
Mr. Kodgers, with Midshipman Porter and eleven 
men, were placed on board the prize to superin- 
tend the removal of prisoners. While engaged in 
tliis duty, the wind rose almost to a hurricane, 
night set in, and 173 of the crew still remained 
on board. So strong was the action of the waves, 
that the ships were often widely separated, and 
then driven with fearful violence almost to a col- 
lision. At length, notwithstanding every exertion, 
thp prize was driven completely out of sight. 

At this opportunity, so unexpectedly offered, the 
prisoners began to exhibit unequiv^ocal signs of 
revolt. To the handful who watched them this 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 287 

movement would have been fatal ; but the intrepid 
Kodgers showed himself equal to the emergency. 
Ordering all the prisoners to the hold, he secured 
the lire-arms, and placed a sentinel at each hatch- 
way, wdth positive orders to shoot every man who 
should attempt to mount the deck. In this unen- 
viable situation he rentained three days, watching 
his prisoners with sleepless vigilance, and exhorting 
his men never to surrender their prize. At the 
end of the time he arrived safely in St. Kitt's, 
where the Constellation was already anchored. 



THE CO]^STELLATIO]Sr AND YENGEAKCE. 

The battle between the Constellation and Ven- 
geance (February 2d, 1800,) is one of the most in- 
dubitable proofs in history of the American naval 
superiority, both in maneuvering and action. The 
French frigate had been descried on the previous 
day, when Commodore Truxtun hoisted English 
colors. These, however, were disregarded, and a 

chase commenced, which continued all night, and 

20 



288 DARING DEEDS 

tlirougli the following day. At eight in the eve- 
ning, Truxtim was about speaking his opponent, 
when the latter suddenly commenced firing. Flight 
and pursuit were now abandoned, and each com- 
mander prepared for a violent struggle. The night 
was dark ; and the sullen dashings of the waters 
seemed in unison with the ierrible storm that was 
soon to hurry man into conflict with his fellow 
man. 

At a few minutes past eight, the Constellation 
poured a heavy broadside into her antagonist, which 
was answered by a wide sheet of flame, followed 
by another and another, until the pitchy gloom was 
lighted up by the incessant volcanic glare. Side 
by side those two ships sat upon the waters, fling- 
ing out their crashing hail, and rolling with terrific 
violence upon the heaving ocean. Minutes and 
hours rolled on ; the night grew deeper and blacker, 
and the wind howled and shrieked along the heav- 
ens. But man heeded not the elements. Far over 
the ocean was that red dismal glare beheld; and 
the distant mariner started from his dreaming berth, 
and bent forward to catch the faint lingering of 
that wild revel. At intervals each crew heard the 
shouts of opposing officers and the cheers of battle. 



OF AMEEIGAN HEROES. 289 

The same voice that had rung out against the 
Insurgente was driving the Americans to battle ; 
while, as though in stern mockery, the French 
commander poured his thrilling appeals to his sail- 
ors. That night battle was a scene terrible and 
sublime. 

At one o'clock, the French vessel drew from the 
combat, and spread sail. Sure of victory, Truxtun 
ordered a chase, but at that moment received the 
disheartening intelligence, that every shroud had 
been shot from the main-mast, which was supported 
only by its wood. But, anxious to risk everything 
in order to secure the prize, he ordered his men 
to secure it long enough to come up with the 
enemy. But no exertion could obviate the calamity, 
and the mast went by the board, in a few minutes 
after the enemy had retired. 

In this long-disputed action the Constellation lost 
fourteen men killed, and twenty-five wounded, 
eleven of whom subsequently died. Her whole 
crew was 310 souls. The armament, of the Yen- 
geance was twenty-eight eighteens, sixteen twelves, 
and eight forty-two pound carronades. Her crew 
was between four and ^ve hundred men, and her 
loss fifty killed and 110 wounded. When arriving 



290 DARING DEEDS 

in Curacoa, she was in a sinking condition; and 
there can be little doubt, that had the action 
recommenced, her capture would have been in- 
evitable. 



BUENmG OF THE PHILADELPHIA. 

The successful attack on the Philadelphia (Feb- 
ruary 16, 1804,) laid the foundation of Decatur's 
fame. The plan of the assault was not more admi- 
rable than the chivalric daring with which it was 
executed, or the little loss that attended it. Its 
influence on both belligerents was incalculable, and 
gave a new complexion to all the subsequent ope- 
rations of the war. 

The Siren and Intrepid had sailed on the 3d, 
under orders to burn the Philadelphia. Stormy 
weather attended them until the 15th ; a calm suc- 
ceeded ; and Decatur, with about eighty men, made 
his reconnoissances for attack. These were contin- 
ued until the afternoon of the following day, when 
the ship became visible. She remained in the 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 

same condition as when grounded, except tliat her 
lower rigging was standing, and her guns were 
loaded and shotted. iN'ear her lay two corsairs, a 
few gun-boats, and two galleys. 

As the twilight declined, and the shades of eve- 
ning gathered round, the Intrepid, slowly winding 
amid rocks and shoals, approached her intended ob- 
ject. The deep blue sky, purified by the late storm, 
was reflected from the tranquil water, as from a 
mirror; while the young moon, like a crescent gem, 
hung fair and beautiful over the peaceful scene. 
Gradually, as evening deepened, the wind died 
away, until scarcely a breath swept across the 
waters, and the Intrepid lay as immovable as 
though founded on a rock. Then a ripple would 
dim the bright surface, a slight breeze sweep on 
the vessel, and silently it would continue its swan- 
like course. How great the contrast of sleeping 
nature, with the feelings of that crew. On the 
deck stood their leader, every muscle rigid with 
expectation, and his restless eye piercing through 
the surrounding night. At his feet lay his men in 
concealment, panting with expectation of the ap- 
proaching struggle. !N"ot a sound broke the oppres- 
sive silence — it was a pause stern and terrible. 



292 DARINGDEEDS 

Suddenly a voice came ringing over the sea. 
They were hailed by the Moorish crew. A con- 
versation took place, which was maintained under 
an assumed character on the part of the' Ameri- 
cans, until the wind suddenly shifted and brought 
their vessel within complete range of the frigate^s 
guns. Their situation was now perilous — a single 
broadside would have sent the Intrepid to the 
bottom. Fortunately, no suspicion had as yet been 
excited, and the Turks even sent a boat to the 
assistance of the supposed unfortunate stranger. 
In a few moments the Intrepid was alongside of 
her prey. Instantly Decatur sprang to the side 
of the vessel. "Board!" he shouted to his crew, 
and the astonished Turks beheld their deck swarm- 
ing with armed troops. Decatur's foot slipped 
in springing, so that Mr. Charles Morris had the 
honor of being first on the quarter-deck. In a 
moment his commander and Mr. Laws were at his 
side, while heads and bodies appeared coming over 
the rail, and through the ports in all directions. 

Never was surprise more complete. The enemy 
hurried in disordered crowds from place to place, 
some crying for quarter, others climbing the shrouds, 
and others leaping overboard. In ten minutes the 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 293 

enemy were swept away, and the gallant Decatur 
Lad undisputed possession of his prize. 

And now a shade of sorrow dimmed the victor's 
joys. That proud vessel, whose deck he had often 
paced, in company with his nation's defenders, and 
for which he had faced such danger, must, before 
morning, be given to the flames. It would have 
been happiness to bring her from the sands, and 
once more restore her to her sister fleet ; but this 
was impossible. 

The combustibles were now ordered from the 
Intrepid, and in a few minutes the flames were 
sweeping and hissing along her sides. The greedy 
element licked up the spars and rigging, like chaft", 
and bursting sheets of fire drove the victors to 
their ketch. The flames burst from the port-holes, 
glanced like lightning along the sides, and flashed 
in the faces of the adventurers. The ketch became 
jammed against the frigate, and all her ammuni- 
tion was in danger of igniting. The crew, however, 
extricated themselves by their swords, and soon 
escaped from their dangerous position. Then they 
paused, turned one exulting gaze toward the burn- 
ing vessel, and poured their feelings in one wild 
shout of victory. That sound had not yet subsided. 



294 DARING DfiEDS 

when the land batteries, the corsairs and galleys, 
burst forth in one simultaneous roar. Showers of 
balls and shot came whistling around the men, 
plunging and splashing among the waters, and 
throwing the spray in all directions. But, elated 
by success, the crew hastened not, heeded not. 
That spectacle was terrible to sublimity. The 
Philadelphia was in one wide blaze. Sheets of 
flame flashed along her rolling hull, danced among 
her rigging, and, collecting along the masts, fell 
down with sullen report toward the water. The 
waves seemed like melted brass. All Tripoli was 
in uproar. Thousands of people were standing in 
fearful anxiety, gazing upon the conflagration ; vol 
umes of smoke were unfolding heavily along the 
heavens ; batte^'ies were roaring on all sides ; ships 
passing to and fro ; within a few miles all nature 
appeared convulsed. Yet the little craft bore on, 
till the balls ceased to whistle near them, and they 
were free from danger. Then, for the first time, 
each man thought of what he had accomplished, 
and gazed in astonishment at his fellows. Steadily 
the Intrepid bore on, until she met the boats of 
the Siren, sent to cover her retreat. In a few 
moments one of these returned to the Siren, 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 295 

bringing a man dressed in a sailor's jacket. Ho 
sprang over the gangway — it was a messenger of 
victory, Decatur himself. 



BOMBAEDMENT OF TKIPOLI. 

In order to have a correct idea of the terrible 
scene attending the bombardment of Tripoli, it will 
be necessary to take a view of the respective forces 
of the combatants. The fleet of Commodore Preble 
consisted of one frigate, the Constitution, three 
brigs, three schooners, six gun-boats, and two 
bombard-ketches ; carrying in all, 164 guns and 
1060 men. The castle and batteries of the enemy 
mounted 115 guns, of which forty-five were heavy 
brass battering-cannon. Beside these, there were 
nineteen gun-boats, each carrying a heavy twenty- 
four-pounder and two howitzers ; two schooners of 
eight guns each, a brig of ten, and two galleys, 
each of four guns. The regular garrison and crews 
numbered 3000 men, and they were assisted by 

20,000 Arabs. 

U 



296 DARING DEEDS 

f 

On the afternoon of the 3d of August, 1804, 
signal was given for a general attack upon the 
town. It was commenced by bombs and heavy 
shot. In a moment, 200 cannon opened upon the 
American fleet, and Tripoli seemed shrouded in 
fire. The smoke from the ships meeting that on 
shore, formed one black canopy, under which the 
fierce combatants hurled forth their volleys of 
blasting flame. Through this darkness bombs were 
passing and repassing, scattering red-hot fragments 
in all directions, and sweeping every thing before 
them as they struck at the desired object. The 
water ploughed and boiled with the incessant 
plunges, and the strong-built houses of Tripoli 
tottered as though in an earthquake. 

While the main forces were conducting the 
bombardment. Captain Decatur, with his three gun 
boats, attacked nine of the enemy's. A few mo 
ments, and these little squadrons were rocking with 
their own cannonadings. These died away as the 
boats neared each other, and then succeeded the 
clash of bayonets and the ringing of sabers. De- 
catur seized a boat, and boarded her with but 
fifteen men. Five Turks rushed at him with thoir 
cimeters. The moment was h\g with importance. 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 297 

On his life hung the conduct and fate of his men. 
But, with the rapidity of thought, he parried every 
blow, and drove back his antagonists unharmed. 
The captain, a powerful Turk, rushed at him and 
severed his blade ; but Decatur closed with him, 
and both came to the deck. Although the Ameri- 
can was under his antagonist, he managed to draw 
his pistol, with which he shot the Turk dead. Part / 
of his crew then rushed to his assistance, and soon 
cleared the boat. "With eight men he then ad- 
vanced against another of the fleet, and carried 
it after a desperate encounter. The obstinacy of 
the enemy in these conflicts made the slaughter 
immense. The two prizes had thirty-three officers 
and men killed, and nineteen out of twenty-seven 
prisoners wounded. 

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Trippe boarded one of 
the enemy's large boats, with only a niidshipman, 
Jonathan Henry, and nine men. At the moment 
of boarding, his boat fell away, and thus eleven 
men were left to wrestle with thirty-six. The battle 
was fearful, but short. Fourteen of the enemy were 
killed, seven badly wounded, and the rest taken 
prisoners. Lieutenant Trippe received eleven saber 
wounds, and fell while wrestling w^ith his enemy. 



29S DARING DEEDS 

The lieutenant succeeded in getting his opponent's 
sword, with which he killed him. 

In this manner the battle raged for more than 
two hours, the batteries working within pistol-shot, 
and every gun in uninterrupted blast. At half-past 
four Commodore Preble gave signal to the smaller 
vessels to withdraw ; and soon after the whole fleet 
were retiring from the town, under cover of a Are 
from the Constitution. 

The smallness of the American loss in this fierce 
cannonade must ever remain a matter of astonish- 
ment. But one man was killed — Lieutenant 
Decatur, brother of the captain. One man had his 
arm shattered, and several others were wounded. 
The Constitution was considerably injured, and the 
other vessels suffered in their rigging. 

Vastly different was the effect upon the enemy. 
Of one hundred and three men on board the cap- 
tured boats, only thirty were fit for duty. Three 
other boats were sunk with their entire crews, and 
the decks of the remaining vessels were swept of 
numbers. The town itself was considerably dam- 
aged, and the inhabitants thrown into the greatest 
consternation. Many fled into the interior; and, 
of the thousands who swarmed the house-tops, to 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 

witness tlie commencemeut of the battle, not one 
was left ten minutes after it had begun. 

On the 7th of August, the second bombardment 
of Tripoli commenced. The ships opened their fire 
at half-past two, and continued three hours. Forty- 
eight shells, and five hundred twenty-pound round 
shot were thrown into the town, one battery silenced, 
and several boats injured. The Americans lost a 
prize boat, which blew up, together with twenty- 
four killed and four wounded. The bashaw being 
still determined to pursue his aggressions against 
the Americans, a third assault was determined upon. 
At two o'clock on the morning of the 24th, the 
work of death recommenced. The moon was shin- 
ing with uncommon brightness, and all nature lay 
as though exhausted with the heat of the preceding 
day. The white buildings of the town, mellowed 
by the flood of light, seemed still and solitary as 
the regions of Arabian fairy land. Far away in 
the distance the palm trees drooped their graceful 
tops, and further still the mountains of Barbary 
seemed, Atlas-like, to be supporting the heavens. 
As the ships glided slowly into station, they seemed 
strange and unnatural — intruders into the sacred 
repose of so lovely a spectacle. 



300 DARING DEED3 

But this hushed tranquillitj, this peaceful repo&^a 
of nature, was destined to a rude awakening. A 
single bomb burst faintly on the silence, swept 
across the starry arch, and dropped into the town. 
Another followed ; and then one tremendous roar 
burst along the startled fleet, lashing the waters 
into maddening surges, and stunning the air for 
miles around. Hanks of liquid fire blazed in every 
direction, and hundreds of flashing shot rushed 
through the void, toward the devoted town. Then 
a pause ; and then the terrible answer, crashing and 
plunging in and around the vessels, and throwing 
fountains of spray over the decks and rigging. 
Again the ships hurled forth their defiance, the 
batteries replying until intermission failed, and one 
uninterrupted uproar shook land and sea. The 
hours rolled dreadfully on ; but that death-work 
seemed endless ; and the sun had begun careering 
in the east before the mad passions of man had 
ceased to struggle. 

This bombardment having been productive of lit- 
tle effect, a combined attack upon the town and 
bashaw's castle was soon after, August 28th, made. 
The gun-boats and smaller vessels anchored within, 
among the rocks of the harbor. Thirteen of the 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 801 

enemy's, boats engtiged eight of the Americans', 
when the constitution sailed by, ordered the latter to 
retire, and delivered a fire which sunk a Tripolitan 
boat, drove two others on the rocks, and obliged 
the remainder to retire. The frio-ate then com- 
menced a fierce attack upon the town and castle, 
continuing it for three-quarters of an hour, with 
considerable effect. The castle and two batteries 
were silenced, many houses destroyed, and some 
men killed. A boat of the Americans was sunk, 
a few men killed, and several badly wounded. 

On the 3d of September, the fifth and last bom- 
bardment of Tripoli took place. The action com- 
menced a little after three P. M., and soon becarne 
general. In about half an hour, the battle became 
divided ; a part of the fleet bombarding the town, 
and the remainder engaging the enemy's squadron. 
Taught by former experience, each p^rty seemed to 
rely principally on maneuvering, during which many 
of the vessels were so much injured as to be unfit 
for sailing. Yet, although the shipping suffered so 
materially, not a man of the Americans was in- 
jured. The action closed at half-pai;t four. 



LOSS OF THE INTEEPID. 

The name of this vessel is associated with some 
of the most daring deeds of modern warfare ; her 
fate was in strange keeping with her reputation. 

On the evening of September ^th, she was dis- 
patched by Commodore Preble as a fire-ship, to 
explode among the enemy's cruisers. It was com- 
manded by Captain Somers, and his second, Lieu- 
tenant Wadsworth, with ten other men. A deep 
mist had brooded over the water, and the stars 
were seen dim, as though half extinguished. A 
gloom hung over the American seamen ; for those 
bold comrades whom they were sending forth were 
to return no more, unless they could escape unper- 
ceived from the enemy. The captain had declared 
his intention of exploding the vessel in case of 
being boarded by the Tripolitans ; and now those 
who knew his worth — who had stood by his side 
in danger as in prosperity — yearned over him 
with the honest sympathy of sailors. Pale with 
repressed anxiety, the commodore gave them his 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 303 

parting instructions, and the ketch swept forward 
through the water toward its object. 

The manner in which the fire-ship was prepared 
for her dreadful work, is thus described by Mr. 
Cooper, in his Kaval History : 

" A small room or magazine had been planked 
up in the hold of the ketch, just forward of her 
principal mast. Communicating with this magazine 
was a trunk or tube, that led aft to another room 
filled with combustibles. In the planked room, or 
magazine, were placed 100 barrels of gunpowder, 
in bulk; and on the deck immediately above the 
powder, were laid fifteen thirteen and a half inch 
shells, and 100 nine-inch shells, with a large quan- 
tity of shot, pieces of kentledge, and fragments of 
iron of difi'erent sorts. A train was laid in the 
trunk or tube, and fuses were attached in the proper 
manner. In addition to this arrangement, the other 
small room mentioned was filled with splinters and 
light wood ; which, besides firing the train, were to 
keep the enemy from boarding, as the flames would 
be apt to induce them to apprehend an immediate 
explosion. 

And now the fearful voyage commenced. Slowly 

the canvas of the devoted craft receded into the 
14* 21 



304 DARING DEEDS 

distance, until she seemed like some shadowy spirit, 
struggling and writhing with the darkness. Hearts 
that had swelled to the rigidity of iron, grew chilly 
and palpitating as the eye hung on the lessening 
folds ; and a strange restlessness, a solitary pang 
for the horrors of war, crossed each bosom. Deca- 
tur himself, who moved among the mighty as the 
mightiest, stood like a statue upon the deck, his 
eye peering through the darkness, and his noble 
form thrilling with intense feeling. ITot a sound 
was heard; nature seemed suspended. More and 
more faint the sails become, until only by turns 
are they revealed through the darkness. Sometimes 
a blast of wind strikes the water, heaves the ves- 
sel on its bosom, and displays her to the sight ; 
then she suddenly sinks, and all is black, l^ow 
the spectators strain and lean from their stations, 
and pray for one more glance; but still all is 
blackness. 

Suddenly every man started. A report cracked 
along the strung nerves ; a thick light gleamed 
through the night ; the enemy had opened their 
guns. Anxiety changed to agony. One ball would 
hurl the ketch and her crew into mangled atoms ; 
and how was such a catastrophe avoidable ? 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 305 

Battery after battery opened, glaring through the 
blackness, lashing the surges into fury with their 
iron showers, and filling the spectators with feel- 
ings unutterable. N'ow and then, by the help of 
one volcanic flash, the fearless sail would appear, 
careering in the jaws of death, like some white 
spirit of destruction. Time seemed standing still. 
Yet deeper, louder, more thrilling, the uproar 
swelled, until earth, sea, air — all nature — seemed 
battling in convulsions. Tripoli had never wit- 
nessed a night like that. 

Suddenly a column of massive fire, to which the 
united efforts of every battery seemed like the 
mockery of tapers, swept up to heaven, tossing the 
boiling ocean like a ball, and lighting the coast 
for leagues. Then a report, as if the elements 
were crashing with each other; and every vessel 
shook like a leaf in autumn. After the first stun- 
ning blow, men gazed on each other in conster- 
nation; the nerves shrunk and quivered, through 
fear of a repetition. There was no inquiry; each 
knew — each felt — the truth. Darkness, three-fold 
dense, succeeded; every gun hushed, and stillness 
fell like a mountain on every heart. Oh, the 
racking of that moment! The roar of cannon — 



306 DARING DEEDS 

the strnofCTlinoj of battle — would have been wild, 
eweet music, to the tortui-ed system. A world of 
horror was crowded into every moment, and man 
ceased for a while to breathe. 

The Intrepid was but a name. The crew ! where 
were they ? After the first shock had subsided, the 
Bailors leaped over the sides of the vessels, held 
ap their lanterns, and placed their ears to the water 
to catch the dash of oars. How fearful was the 
pause ! Xone could resign hope — that crew could 
not be lost — they must meet once more with their 
comrades, and narrate the thrilling tale. Imagina- 
tion swallowed up judgment ; and " I hear them -^ 
they are coming," often warmed each bosom with 
joy. Then there was silence, and the watch was 
again renewed. Hope again died — time rolled 
on — the whole truth was being told. Their oars 
were never again heard. How that vessel exploded 
none ever knew ; the awful sublimity of her fate 
was not to be lessened by a disclosure of its cause. 

Kot a single gun was fired aiter the explosion ; 
both parties seemed bewildered; and, for a few 
days, operations against the city were suspended. 



EXPEDITIOX OF GEXEEAL EAT0:N". 

In the African expedition, the Americans were 
not confined to naval operations. "We have else- 
where remarked that the Tripolitan war was con- 
ducted with a chivalry, and display of personal 
daring, rarely equaled in modem warfare. Its 
conclusion was the romantic expedition of General 
Eaton ; an appropriate closing for deeds of such 
remarkable intrepidity. 

Jussuf CarawalH, the Bashaw of Tripoli, during 
hostilities with the United States, was indebted for 
his eminence to a successful usurpation. Hamet, 
his elder brother, and the rightful heir, had fled 
from the dangers of his own country, and, after 
wandering in the desert for a long while, joined 
himself to the Egyptian Mamelukes. Among these 
he was sought and found by Mr. Eaton, American 
envoy to Tunis, who, having obtained consent of 
government, determined to reinstate him. The pro- 



308 DARING DEEDS 

posal was favored by the viceroy of Egypt, who 
permitted Hamet to pass from that kingdom, not- 
withstanding his connection with the Mamelukes, 
with whom the government was at war. 

In company with the deposed prince, and a small 
party of adventurers from all nations, Mr. Eaton 
(under the title of General,) commenced his march 
toward Tripoli. They crossed the desert of Barca 
from Alexandria, and in April, 1805, arrived before 
Derne. Having received arms and supplies from 
part of the fleet under Captain Hull, they attacked 
this place on the 27th, at two P. M. The adven- 
turers advanced rapidly to the attack, and were 
received with spirit and firmness.* An incessant 
roll of musketry was kept up for more than an 
hour, when Lieutenant O'Bannan and Mr. Mann 
stormed the principal work, hauling down the Tripo- 
litan ensign, and, for the first time, hoisting that 
of our country on a fortress of the Old World. 
The whole town surrendered immediately after. 
Fourteen of the assailants were killed or wounded, 
Eaton among the latter. They numbered 1200, 
and their opponents 3000. 

General Eaton was prevented from following up 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 309 

his victory by an attack on Tripoli, through want 
of supplies; and, soon after, a permanent treaty 
between the two nations put an end to his spirited 
enterprise. 



CHAPTER IX.— 1812. 



CAPTUKE OF THE GUEREIERE. 

The disasters of the Americans in the land 
campaign of 1812 were compensated by several 
brilliant victories. The first remarkable naval vie 
tory was that of the frigate Constitution, Captain 
Hull, over the frigate Guerriere, Captain Dacres 
The action took place on the 19th of August, 1812 

At half past three, P. M., Captain Hull made 
out his antagonist to be a frigate, and continued 
the chase till he was within about three miles, when 
he cleared for action; the chase backed her main- 
top-sail and waited for him to come down. As soon 
as the Constitution was ready, Hull bore down to 
bring the enemy to close action immediately; but, 
on his coming within gun-shot, the Guerriere gave 
a broadside and filled away and wore, giving a 
broadside on the other tack, but without effect, her 
shot falling short. She then continued wearing and 
maneuvering for about three-quarters of an hour, to 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 811 

get a raking position; but, finding she could not, 
she bore up and ran under her topsails and jib, 
with the wind on the quarter. During this time, 
the Constitution not having fired a single broadside, 
the impatience of the officers and men to engage 
was excessive, l^othing but the most rigid disci- 
pline could have restrained them. Hull, however, 
was preparing to decide the contest in a summary 
method of his own. He now made sail to bring 
the Constitution up with her antagonist, and at five 
minutes before six, P. M., being alongside within 
half pistol-shot, he commenced a heavy fire from 
all his guns, double-shotted with round and grape ^ 
and so well directed and so well kept up was the 
fire, that in sixteen minutes the mizzen-mast of the 
Guerriere went by the board, and her main-yard 
in the slings, and the hull, rigging, and sails were 
completely torn to pieces. The fire was kept up 
for fifteen minutes longer, when the main and fore- 
mast went, taking with them every spar except the 
bowsi^rit, and leaving the Guerriere a complete 
wreck. On seeing this, Hull ordered the firing to 
cease, having brought his enemy, in thirty minutes 
after he was fairly alongside, to such a condition that 
a few more broadsides must have carried her down. 



312 DARING DEEDS 

The prize being so shattered that she was not 
worth bringing into port, after removing the pris- 
oners to the Constitution, she was set on fire and 
blown up. In the action, the Constitution lost 
seven killed and seven wounded ; the Guerriere, 
fifteen killed, sixty-two wounded, including the 
captain and several officers, and twenty-four missing. 

The news of this victory was received in the 
United States with the greatest joy and exultation. 
All j)arties united in celebrating it, and the citizens 
and public authorities vied with each other in be- 
stowing marks of approbation upon Captain Hull 
and his gallant officers and crew. 



THE WASP a:n'd FEOLIC. 

Later achievements of our navy, on a large scale, 
have not been sufficient to efface the recollection of 
the brilliant action of the United States sloop-of- 
war "Wasp, under the command of Captain Jones, 
and the British sloop-of-war Frolic. 

He sailed from the port of Philadelphia on the 



OF AMEKICAN HEROES. 313 

13th of October, 1812, with a gallant set of officers, 
and a high-spirited and confident crew. On the 
16th of the same month the TVasp encountered a 
heavy gale, during which she lost her jib-boom and 
two valuable seamen. On the following night, being 
a bright moonlight, a seaman on the look-out dis- 
covered five strange sail, steering eastward. 

IS'otwith standing the apparent disparity of force, 
Captain Jones determined to hazard an attack ; and, 
as the weather*was boisterous, and the swell of the 
sea unusually high, he ordered down the topgallant 
yards, closely reefed the topsails, and prepared for 
action. The convoy sailed ahead and lay to, five 
or six miles distant, while the sloop-of-war, with 
Spanish colors flying, remained under easy sail, the 
Wasp coming down to windward on her larboard 
side, within pistol-shot, displaying the American 
ensign, and pennant. Upon the enemy's being 
hailed, he hauled down the Spanish flag, hoisted 
the British ensign, and opened a broadside of can- 
non and musketry. The fire was promptly returned 
by the Wasp, the vessels gradually neared each 
other, and each maintained the combat with great 
animation, the English vessel firing with most ra- 
pidity, but, as the result proved, with no great 



314 DARING DEEDS 

precision. In a few minutes after tlie commence- 
ment of the action, the maintop-mast of the AYasp 
was shot away, and falling on the top-sail yard, 
across the larboard fore and foretopsail braces, 
caused the head yards to be unmanageable during 
the continuance of the action. In two or three 
minutes more the gaft and mizzen topgallant sail 
were shot away. Each vessel continued in the po- 
sition in which the action commenced, and main- 
tained a close and spirited fire. Captain Jones 
directed his officers not to fire except when the 
vessel rolled downward, so that the shot was either 
poured into the enemy^s deck, or below it, while 
the English fired as soon as they had loaded, with- 
out regard to the position of their vessel, and thus 
their balls were either thrown away, or passed 
through the rigging. The Wasp now passed ahead 
of the enemy, raked her, and resumed her original 
position. It was now obvious that the "Wasp had 
greatly the advantage in the combat, and Captain 
Jones thought the contest might be speedily decided 
by boarding, but hesitated because the roughness 
of the sea might endanger the safety of both vessels 
if brought in contact. As, however, the braces and 
rigging of the Wasp were so injured by tlie shot 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 315 

of the enemy that he was fearful his masts, being 
unsupported, would go bj the board, and that the 
enemy might escape ; he therefore determined at 
all hazards to board, and thus decide the contest. 
With this determination he wore ship, and ran 
athwart the enemy's bow, so that the jib-boom 
came in between the main and mizzen rigging of 
the Wasp. The enemy was now in a position so 
inviting for a raking broadside, that one was 
promptly ordered. So closely in contact were the 
contending vessels, that while loading, the rammers 
of the Wasp struck against the sides of the oj^po- 
sing vessel, so that two of the guns of the former 
entered through the bow ports of the latter, and 
swept the whole length of the deck. At this junc- 
ture a sprightly and gallant seaman, named Jack 
Lang, who had once been impressed on board a 
British man-of-war, jumped on a gun with his cut- 
las, and was about to leap on board the enemy, 
when Captain Jones ordered him back, wishing to 
give a closing broadside before boarding. His im- 
petuosity, however, could not be restrained ; and 
observing the ardor of the crew generally, Lieu- 
tenant Biddle and Booth gallantly led them on, 
but to their great surprise, when they reached the 



316 DARING DEEDS 

enemy'8 deck, not a single uninjured individual 
was found on deck except the seaman at the wheel, 
and three officers. The deck was covered with the 
dying and dead, and was slippery with blood. 
"When Lieutenant Biddle reached the quarter-deck, 
the commander and two other officers threw down 
their swords, and made an inclination of their 
bodies, thus affording evidence that they had 
surrendered. 



DEFEASE OF FOKT HAEKISOK. 

On the 19th of June, 1812, a declaration of war 
was formally declared against Great Britain by the 
United States Congress, and sanctioned by the 
President. Captain Taylor had, but a few weeks 
before, been placed in command of Fort Harrison, 
a rude and weak stockade, garrisoned by only fifty 
soldiers, most of whom, like himself, were worn 
down and disabled by their long and severe service. 
Almost in the very midst of an enemy's country, 
surrounded on all sides by a sleepless and savage 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 317 

fee, and kept constantly on the alert, niglit and day, 
for weeks together, it is not to be wondered at that 
Taylor and his men should have nearly sunk undei 
the fatigue and labor they had so long endured. 
Wliile in this wretched state, with scarcely a dozen 
men fit for service, he was attacked on the night 
of the 5th of September, 1812, after an ineffectual 
attempt to get possession of the fort by stratagem, 
by a force of 450 Indians. But Captain Taylor 
had taken his measures with too much prudence to 
be captured either by stratagem or force, as weak 
as were his defences, and few his men. 

The attack was commenced about eleven o'clock 
at night, amidst the excitement and confusion occa- 
sioned by the burning of the lower block-house, 
which contained the property of the contractor, and 
which they had previously fired. The Indians, con- 
fident of victory, had completely surrounded the 
little garrison, and commenced firing upon it from 
all sides, simultaneously with the firing of the 
block-house. But Captain Taylor was undismayed, 
either by the overwhelming number of his enemy 
and their murderous fire, or the more dangerous 
element of destruction they had called to their aid. 
He calmly o^ave his orders to have the fire 



3] 8 DARING DEEDS 

Extinguished, but for a long time all efforts were 
fruitless. The fire communicated to tlie rcuf, in 
Bpite of every effort to check it. The scene at this 
time is represented as truly appalling. The raging 
of the fire, the yelling and howling of several hun- 
dred Indians, and the cries of women and children 
who had taken shelter there, together with the 
unceasing discharge of guns, must have been 
enough to appal the stoutest heart. Yet we find 
this stripling captain, only twenty-two years of age, 
boldly meeting them all, and giving his orders for 
suppressing the fire, and repelling the attack of his 
iOO savage foes, with as much coolnes-s as the oldest 
veteran. By his great presence of mind, and his 
well-directed efforts, the flames were at length 
arrested, and the fire finally subdued. Having 
extinguished the fire, and erected a temporary 
breastwork, the fire of the enemy was returned 
with redoubled vigor during the whole night, and 
with such success, that at six o'clock in the morn- 
ing, the enemy gave up the contest in despair, 
and withdrew their forces. In this gallant defense, 
Captain Taylor only lost two men killed, and two 
wounded. 



CAPTUEE OF THE MACEDONIAJST. 

Shortly after the declaration of war against Great 
Britain, in 1812, the frigate United States sailed 
apon a cruise, under the command of Commodore 
Decatm*, and on the 25th of October, 1812, in 
latitude 29° 'N., longitude 29° 30' W., fell in with 
his Britannic Majesty's ship, the Macedonian, com- 
manded by Captain Carden. She was a frigate of 
the largest class, mounting forty-nine carriage guns, 
and reputed one of the swiftest sailers in the British 
navy. "When this frigate first hove in sight, and 
while orders were given on board the United States 
to prepare for action. Lieutenant Allen mounted 
aloft ; and, after watching her closely for some time, 
at length discovered the English pennant. He de- 
scended to his comrades, who were impatiently 
awaiting him below, and jocosely pronounced the 
frigate a lawful prize. The enemy having the ad- 
vantage of the wind, fought at liis OAvn distance, 

and the contest was kept up for one hour and fifty 
15 22 



320 DAKING DEEDS 

minutes. The United States poured such an inces- 
sant fire, that the shouts from the crew of the 
Macedonian were distinctly heard, who, from that 
cause, apprehended her to be in flames. Her col- 
ors were, nevertheless, hauled down shortly after- 
ward. In the engagement she lost her mizzen- 
mast, fore and mainto23-mast, and main-yard. She 
was likewise much damaged in her hull. Thirty- 
six were killed and forty-eight wounded. On board 
the United States, -Q.Ye only were killed, and seven 
wounded. The American frigate received so little 
damage in this engagement, that she would still 
have continued her cruise, had it not been necessary 
for her to accompany her prize into port, on ac- 
count of the crippled state of the British frigate. 
Any comments on this splendid action — an action 
BO glorious to the arms of our countrymen^ — would 
surely now be needless. 



CAPTURE OF THE ADAMS AND CALEDONIA. 

In July, 1812, Colonel Winfield Scott received 
the commission of lieutenant-colonel in the 2d 
artillery, (Izard's regiment,) and arrived on the 
Niagara frontier, with the companies of Towson and 
Barker. He took post at Black Rock, to protect 
the navy-yard there established. 

Lieutenant Elliott of the navy had planned an 
enterprise against two British armed brigs, then 
lying at anchor under the guns of Fort Erie. For 
this purpose, he applied, on the 8th of October, 
1812, to Colonel Scott, for assistance in officers 
and men. Captain Towson, and a portion of his 
company were dispatched to the aid of Elliott. The 
attack was successful. On the morning of the 9th, 
both vessels were carried in the most gallant man- 
ner. The Adams was taken by Captain Elliott 
in person, assisted by Lieutenant Isaac Roach ; 
and the Caledonia by the gallant Captain Tow 
son. In dropping down the Niagara River, the 



DARING DEEDS 

Adams became unmanageable, tbrougb the oc- 
currence of a calm, and drifted into the British 
cbannel. She got around on Squaw island, directly 
under the guns of the enemy's batteries, where it 
was impossible to get her off. Captain Elliott, 
therefore, having previously secm'ed the prisoners, 
abandoned her under a heavy fire from the British 
shore. Then ensued an interesting and exciting 
scene, the British endeavoring to retake the aban- 
doned brig, and Colonel Scott to prevent them. 
The enemy sent off boats, and Scott resisted them, 
in which effort he was successful. The brig was 
recaptured, and held until she was subsequently 
burned, by order of General Smythe, who had then 
arrived. 

As for the Caledonia she was preserved by 
the extraordinary efforts of Captain ( now General ) 
Towson, and afterward did good service in the 
memorable and glorious victory won on Lake Erie, 
by the gallant Perry. 



iPlffpSlTTI 




m\ 



it 



BATTLE OF QUEENSTOJST. 

Early in the montli of October, 1812, there were 
near 1500 regular troops at Buffalo and Fort Ni- 
agara, under the command of General Smythe ; and 
General Stephen Yan Rensselaer, of the New York 
militia, the commander of the united force, known 
as the Army of the Center, had concentrated about 
2500 men at Lewiston. Nothing was talked of but 
the invasion and conquest of Canada. The success- 
ful enterprise under Elliott infused new zeal into 
the breasts of the really patriotic, but raw and un- 
disciplined militia ; and all that was then recfuired 
to have terminated the campaign, and perhaps the 
war, by a bold and successful stroke in the upper 
province, was the presence of resolute and energetic 
general officers. 

The arrangements for storming the heights of 
Queenston were completed on the 12th of October, 
and late in the evening of that day Lieutenant- 
OoloAel Scott hastened to Lewiston, throu^jh mud 



324 DARING DEEDS 

and rain, and sleet, and entreated General Yan 
Kensselaer to permit him to serve as a volunteer 
with the attacking force. He instantly retm*ned to 
Schlosser, where his men were posted, ordered them 
under arms, and just before daylight arrived at 
Lewiston, bringing with him two pieces of artillery. 
The troops under Yan Rensselaer and Chrystie had 
already passed the river, — though not with much 
regularity, on account of the deficiency of boats, — 
nnder a heavy fire from the enemy's batteries ; and 
they were now warmly engaged on the opposite 
bank. Colonel Yan Eensselaer and Lieutenant- 
Colonel Chrystie were both known to be severely 
wounded, and Scott was finally ordered to cross 
over and take the command. 

Leaving his train in battery on the American 
shore-, nnder the command of Captains Towson and 
Barker, who opened an effective fire on the enemy, 
Scott crossed the stream, about eight o'clock in the 
morning, when he found that the British force, 
consisting of two flank companies of the 49th, and 
a body of militia, had been driven from their po- 
sition ; that Captain Wool had stormed the heights 
south of the town, with three companies of the 
13th infantry, and carried the enemy's batteries ; 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 325 

and that the British commander, General Brock, 
had been killed in an unsuccessful charge, which 
he had gallantly headed in person. 

Although the American detachments, which had 
made a lodgment on the Canada shore, remained 
for several hours unmolested, it was not doubted 
that the enemy would rally again before night. 
Scott arranged his men, therefore, so as both to 
cover the ferry, in order that he might be rein- 
forced if necessary, and to repel an attack. . 

Between two and three o'clock in the afternoon, 
small parties of the enemy were seen hovering 
along the slopes of the hills, and, shortly after, the 
action was fiercely renewed by the rallied militia 
and grenadiers, and about 400 Indians, under 
Norton, who had heard the previous firing and had 
hurried down from Chippewa. With a mixed com- 
mand of regulars and militia, not far from 350 
strong, Scott boldly encountered the enemy. A 
sharp conflict ensued for a few moments, and the 
assailants were then driven back, and put to flight, 
by a forward movement of the bayonet. 

The protection of the ferry rendered a pursuit 

impossible. Scott therefore re-formed his line, in 

readiness for another attack. He had just returned 
15* 



326 DARING DEEDS 

to the rear, to Ji/ect his men how to unspike a 
captured cannon, when the enemy rallied again, 
and forced in the advanced picket. The main line 
too, had commenced a retreat ere he could reach 
them. Instantly springing to the front, by great 
exertions, in which he was ably seconded by Gene- 
ral Wadsworth, and Lieutenant-Colonel Chrystie, he 
brought the retreating line to the right about. Ilis 
earnest enthusiasm produced a sudden revulsion of 
feeling, and the enemy were soon a second time 
repulsed. 

Meanwhile, General Sheaffe, who commanded 
the troops at Fort George, had hastily collected all 
his disposable forces, and tlie provincial militia in 
the neighborhood, and was rapidly approaching the 
scene of action. About four o'clock, his column, 
fltrt;ib^ring rather more than 800 men, emerged 
into open view just below the village of Queenston. 
lie advanced with much caution, though fully aware 
that the Americans were greatly inferior to his 
own force in point of numbers, especially when he 
had effected a junction with the light troops and 
Indians. Leaving Queenston on his left, he took 
a wide circuit through the woods, gained the 
heights, and opened the action anew, with a rapid 



OF AMERICAN HEKOES. 327 

fire of musketry and artillery. For half an hour, 
the little band lieaded by the dauntless and heroic 
Scott, manfully held their ground, and breasted 
the volleys that met them on every side. All that 
bravery and skill could do, was nobly performed, — 
but .performed in vain I 

Scott fearlessly exposed his person to the enemy's 
bullets. Ilis tall form, six feet and &vq inches in 
height, was the most conspicuous object on the 
field. He was arrayed in full uniform, and was 
entreated again and again to cover up or change 
some parts of his dress. '' I^o, no ! " said he, smil- 
ing ; " I will die in my robes ! " Others were 
constantly falling around him, but he escaped un- 
harmed. — After the action, when he had surren- 
dered himself a prisoner of war, an Indian warrior 
came up to him, and surveying him attentively, 
said — "You are not born to be shot; so many 
times — holding up all the fingers of both hands — 
so many times did I fire at you ! " 



GENERAL SCOTT AND THE INDIAN CHIEFS. 

After the battle of Qiieenston, the prisoners were 
escorted to the village now called Niagara, at the 
mouth of the river, where the officers were lodged 
in an inn, and placed nnder guard. The sentinel 
had received orders to smTer no prisoner to pass 
out, but not otherwise to restrain their motions. 
In a little while a message came that some one 
wished to speak with the " tall American." Scott 
passed through several doors into the entrj. He 
was surprised to find in his visitors the same two 
Indians, hideously painted as in battle, who had 
sprung upon him while he was bearing the flag of 
truce. The elder, tall and strong, was the distin- 
guished chief known by the name of Captain Ja- 
cobs. The other was a young man of fine figure, 
and only inferior in muscular development. In 
broken English, and by gestures, the prisoner was 
questioned as to his shot-marks : the Indians sever- 
ally holding up their fingers to indicate the times 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 329 

their rifles had been leveled at him. Jacobs grew 
warm and seized Scott by the arm to turn him 
round to see his back. Indignant at this manual 
liberty, the American threw the savage from him, 
exclaiming, " Off, villain ! You fired like a squaw." 
" We kill you now ! " was the angry reply, loosen- 
ing from their girdles at the same instant knives 
and tomahawks. There was no call for help ; none 
could have arrived in time ; and flight would have 
been, in the opinion of such soldiers as Scott, 
dastardly. In a corner of the entry, under the 
staircase, stood the swords of the American officers, 
wliich, according to the custom of war, they had 
been desired to lay aside on their arrival. A long 
sabre, in a heavy steel scabbard, as readily drawn 
as grasped, lay on the outside of- the stack. A 
spring swiftly to the rear, and another back upon 
the foe, brought the American, with blade hung in 
air, to an attitude of defiance. A second lost — a 
quiver — or an error of the eye, would have ended 
this story, and left no further room to the biogra- 
pher of the " tall American." Of one of his assail- 
ants Scott was absolutely sure ; but that he would 
fall by the hands of the other before the sword 
could be again poised, seemed equally certain. IIo 



330 DARING DEEDS 

had the advantage of position — standing on the 
defensive, in a narrow entrj^, just within the foot 
of the staircase. It was a pass that could not be 
turned. The savages were held without, in the 
wider space, near the front door, but maneuvering 
like tigers to close upon their prey. The parties 
were thus terribly grouped, when a British officer, 
entering from the street, and seeing what impended, 
cried, " The guard ! " and at the same moment 
seized Jacobs by the arm, and put a pistol to the 
head of his companion. Scott held his blade ready 
to descend in aid of his gallant deliverer, now 
turned upon by his foes. The sentinels obeyed the 
call they had heard, and came in, with bayonets 
forward. The Indians were marched oif, muttering 
imprecations on all white men, and all the laws 
of war. The younger of these Indian chiefs was 
the son of the celebrated Brant, of the Revolu- 
tionary war, whose life has recently been given to 
the public by the late Colonel Wm. L. Stone. The 
officer who so opportunely entered, on a visit of 
courtesy, was Captain Coffin, then in the staff of 
General Sheaffe, and now of high rank in the 
British army. This adventure he frequently nar- 
rated, both in !N"ew York and on the other side of 
the Atlantic. 




Mm 



CAPTURE OF THE JAVA. 

Long before the commencement of the last war 
with Great Britain, Commodore Bainbridge had 
established the highest character for bravery and 
ability as a naval commander. 

On the 29th of December, 1812, in latitude IS"" 
6' S., and about ten leagues from the coast of Brazil, 
the Constitution fell in with an enemy's frigate, 
the Java, bound for the East Indies, with a number 
of supernumerary officers and seamen for the Bom- 
bay station. The commodore, finding the frigate 
fairly within his reach, prepared with alacrity for 
action. The stranger showed English colors, and 
bore down with the intention of raking the Con- 
stitution. Bainbridge avoided this, and the enemy 
having hauled down colors, and left flying a jack 
only, the commodore gave orders to fire ahead of 
the enemy to make him show full colors. This 
was returned with a full broadside, and a general 
action commenced, both ships striving to rake and 
to avoid being raked. 



332 DAKING DEEDS 

Soon after tlie commencement of the action, Bain 
bridge received a ball in the hip ; and a few 
minutes later a shot carried away the wheel, and 
drove a small bolt with violence into his thigh. 
These injuries did not induce him to sit down, and 
he continued on deck, giving orders until eleven 
o'clock at night. The action lasted an hour and 
iiftv-iive minutes, when the enemy struck her flag, 
and the American commodore sent Lieutenant 
Parker to take possession. The Java was com- 
manded by Captain Lambert, a distinguished offi- 
cer, who was mortally wounded, and died a few 
days after the battle. The enemy's loss was not 
less than sixty killed and 100 wounded. The Con- 
stitution lost nine killed and twenty-five womided. 
Tlie two vessels presented a striking contrast in 
appearance, at the close of the action ; the Consti- 
tution " actually coming out of the battle as she 
had gone into it, with royal-yards across, and every 
spar, from the highest to the lowest, in its place," 
though some of them were considerably injured ; 
while the Java lay upon the water an unmanage- 
able wreck, with every spar shot away, and but a 
few stumps left standing. Bainbridge displayed 
great kindness in the treatment of his prisoners ; 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 333 

and, having destroyed his prize, he landed his 
captives at St. Salvador, on parole of honor not 
to engage in hostilities against the United Stat^a 
until exchanged. 



CHAPTEIi X.— 1813. 



CAPTUKE OF THE PEACOCK. 

The following account of this celebrated action 
is extracted from Captain Lawrence's official dis- 
patch to the secretary of the navy, dated March 
19th, 1813 : 

After cruising off the coast of Surinam, from the 
5th to the 22d of February, without meeting a ves- 
sel, I stood for Demarara, with an intention, should 
I not be fortunate on that station, to run through 
the West Indies, on my way to the United States. 
But, on the morning of the 21th, I discovered a 
brig to leeward, to which I gave chase ; ran into 
quarter less four, and, not having a pilot, was 
obliged to haul off — the fort at the entrance of 
Demarara river at this time bearing south-west, 
distance about two and a half leagues. Previously 
to giving up the chase, I discovered a vessel at 
anchor without the bar, with English colors fly- 
ing, apparently a brig-of-war. In beating round 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 335 

Corobano bank, in order to get at her, at lialf-past 
three, P. M., I discovered another sail on my 
weather quarter, edging down for ns. At twenty 
minutes past four she hoisted English colors, at 
which time we discovered her to be a large man- 
of-war brig, beat to quarters, and cleared shij) for 
action ; kept close by the wind, in order, if possi- 
ble, to get the weather-gage. At ten minutes past 
live, finding I could weather the enemy, I hoisted 
American colors and tacked. At twenty minutes 
past five, in passing each other, exchanged broad- 
sides within half pistol-shot. 

Observing the enemy in the act of wearing, 1 |g^ 

bore up, received his starboard broadside, ran him *^^ 
close, on board on the starboard quarter, and kept 
up such a heavy and well-directed fire, that in less 
than fifteen minutes he surrendered, being literally 
cut to pieces, and hoisted an ensign, union down, 
from his fore rigging, as a signal of distress. 
Shortly after, his main-mast went by the board, 
dispatched Lieutenant Shubrick on board, who soon 
returned with her first lieutenant, who reported her 
to be his Britannic majesty's late brig Peacock, com- 
manded by Captain William Peake, who fell in the 
latter part of the action ; that a number of her crew 



336 DARING DEEDS 

were killed and wounded, and that she was sinking 
fast, having then six feet of water in her hold ; 
dispatched the boats immediately for the wounded, 
and brought both vessels to anchor. Such shot- 
holes as could be got at were then plugged, her 
guns thrown overboard, and every possible exertion 
used to keep her afloat, until the prisoners could 
be removed, by pumping and bailing, but without 
effect, and she unfortunately sunk in five and a 
half fathoms water, carrying down thirteen of her 
crew and three of my brave fellows, viz. : John 
Hart, Joseph "Williams, and Hannibal Boyd. 



DEATH OF GENEEAL PIKE. 

Keeping up their system of petty incursions on 
the border towns, on the morning of the 22d of 
February, 1813, the British crossed over in con- 
siderable force, and succeeded in capturing Og- 
densburg, on the St. Lawrence. Captain Forsythe, 
the American commander at that place, with a 
force less than half that of the British, effected 



OF A 5f E R I C A N H E Pw O E S . 337 

his retreat to Black Lake, in a masterly manner. 

The ice having disappeared from Lake Ontario 
about the middle of April, the look-out boat Growler 
sailed from Sackett's Harbor on the 19th, to recon- 
noiter the lake, and immediately preparations were 
made for an embarkation of troops for the invasion 
of Canada. The troops, to the number of 1700, 
under the command of General Dearborn, were em- 
barked by the 23d ; *but the weather proving stormy 
the fleet did not sail until the 25th. 

On the morning of the 27th they arrived off 
York, the capital of Uj)per Canada ; and, the fleet 
having taken a position to the south and westward 
o^ the principal fort, and as near the shore as pos- 
sible, the debarkation of the troops commenced 
about eight, and was completed about ten ::i the 
forenoon. 

The riflemen under Forsythe first landed, under 
a heavy fire from the enemy, who had collected 
all their force at this point, consisting of 700 regu- 
lars and militia, and 100 Indians, commanded by 
General Sheaffe in person. The contest was sharp 
and severe for about half an hour, when, about 700 
or SOO of the Americans having landed, commanded 
ny Gcirral Pike, and the remainder of the troops 



338 DARING DEEDS 

pushing for the shore, the enemy retreated to theii 
works, leaving a number of killed and wounded on 
the field. 

Pike having formed the troops on the ground 
originally intended for their landing, advanced to 
the batteries, which now opened their fire, which 
was returned from the schooners, that had beat up 
to a position within 600 yards of the principal fort. 
The troops were led in the most gallant manner 
by General Pike, who carried two redoubts, and 
was approaching the principal work, when the 
enemy, having previously laid a train, blew up hia 
magazine, by which a great number of the troops 
were killed and wounded, and, among the former, 
the ever-to-be-lamented General Pike. When the 
fall of Pike was made known to General Dearborn^ 
he landed and took the command of the troops. 

As soon as the magazine was blown up, the 
British set fire to their naval stores and a ship on 
the stocks ; and then the regulars, with SheafFe at 
their head, made a precipitate retreat from the 
town. By two in the afternoon, the American flag 
was substituted for the British, and by four the 
troops were in peaceable possession of York, a ca- 
pitulation having been agreed on with the militia 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 339 

commanding officer, by wliicli tlie town stores, and 
nearly 300 militia were surrendered. 

The total American loss on this occasion was 264: 
killed and wounded. 

The British acknowledged a loss of 156, killed, 
wounded, prisoners, and missing. This loss of 
killed, wounded, and prisoners, however, must only 
include the regulars, as 300 militia were surrendered 
in the town. 



CAPTAIlSr HOLMES' expeditio:n". 

Early in the spring of 1813, a small force, con- 
sisting of about 180 rangers and mounted infantrj^, 
under Captain Holmes, was dispatched by Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel Butler, the commander at Detroit, 
as^ainst Delaware, a British post on the river 
Thames. This detachment had set out with artil- 
lery, but the state of the country presenting invin- 
cible obstacles in its transportation, it was left 
behind. By this means, and by sending back the 
sick to Detroit, Holmes' little force w^as diminished 
to about 160 men. 16 



310 DARING DEEDS 

On the 3d of March, intelligence was received 
that a body of the enemy, nearly double his force, 
was descending the Thames, one-half of whom were 
regulars, and the remainder militia and Indians. 
Holmes immediately retreated a few miles, and 
took an excellent position on the western bank of 
a creek, which ran through a deep and wide ravine. 
Captain Gill was left, with a few rangers, to cover 
the rear, and watch the motions of the enemy ; but 
hardly had the main body encamped before they 
were joined by the rangers, who had been driven 
in after exchanging a few shots with the British 
advanced corps, in a vain attempt to reconnoiter 
their forces. 

The attack was commenced simultaneously on 
every front, the militia and Indians attacking the 
north, west, and south, with savage yells and bugles 
sounding, and the regulars charging from the ravine 
on the east. The latter bravely approached to 
within twenty paces of the American line, against 
the most destructive fire. But the front section 
being shot to pieces, those who followed much 
thinned and wounded, and many of the ofiicers cut 
down, they were forced to abandon the charge, and 
take cover in the woods in diffused order, within 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 341 

from fifteen to thirty paces of their antagonists. 
The charge of the British regulars thus repulsed, 
they had recourse to their ammunition, and the 
firing increased on both sides with great vivacity. 
The American regulars, being uncovered, were 
ordered to kneel, that the brow of the heights 
might assist in screening them from the view of 
the enemy. But the enemy's cover also proved 
insufficient, a common-sized tree being unable to 
protect even one man from the extended line of 
Americans, much less the squads that often stood 
and breathed their last together. 

On the other three sides the firing was also sus- 
tained with much coolness, and with considerable 
loss to the foe. The troops on those sides being 
protected by logs hastily thrown together, and the 
enemy not charging, both the rifle and the musket 
were aimed at leisure, with that deadly certainty 
which distinguishes the American backwoodsman. 
Unable to sustain so unequal a contest, therefore, 
and favored by the shades of twilight, the British 
commenced a general retreat, after an hours close 
and gallant conflict. 



CAPTURE OF THE PENGUIK. 

On the morning of the 23d of March, 1813, while 
the Hornet sloop-of-war, of eighteen guns, command- 
ed bj Captain Biddle, was preparing to anchor off 
the island of Tristan d' Acunha, a sail hove in sight, 
steering northward, with a fine breeze, and disap- 
peared in a few minutes behind a projecting point 
of land. The Hornet immediately made sail, and 
on clearing the point, discovered the same vessel, 
bearing down before the w^ind, when Captain Biddle 
shortened sail and hove to for her to come up with 
him. When the stranger got near he began also 
to shorten sail, and took in his steering-sails very 
clumsily, for the purpose, as it afterward appeared, 
of practicing a deception. At forty minutes past 
one, the engagement commenced by a broadside 
from the Hornet. The action was sustained with 
great spirit for fifteen minutes, when the enemy 
approached, w^ith the apparent intention of board- 
ing ; but finding the Hornet prepared to receive 



OF AMERICAN HEKOES. 343 

him, he desisted from the attempt, and in a few 
minutes surrendered. The prize proved to be the 
British brig-of-war Penguin, of nineteen guns and 
132 men, fortj-two of whom were killed or wounded. 
So heavy and well-directed had been the fire of the 
Hornet, that it was found necessary to scuttle the 
Penguin, after removing the prisoners. The Hornet 
received no material injury; one man only of her 
crew was killed, and eleven wounded. 



BATTLE OF TOHOPECA. 

Not far from five miles below Emuckfaw, is the 
great bend of the Tallapoosa, called by the Indians, 
Tohopeca, or Horse Shoe. At this place, the war- 
riors from the hostile towns of Oakfuskie, Oake- 
hoya, Enfaulee, ITew Yonca, the Hillabees and Fish 
Ponds, had concentrated their forces, near 1000 
strong, for a last desperate struggle. Across the 
narrow neck of land, or isthmus, by which the 
peninsula formed by the crooked river was entered, 
they had erected a breastwork of logs, from five 



344 BAKING DEEDS 

to eight feet high, with double port-holes, arranged 
with no little skill and ingenuity. "Within the in- 
closure, there were about 100 acres of land ; the 
center was high ground, covered with brush and 
fallen timber ; and on the river bottom, at the lower 
extremity of the peninsula, was the Indian village. 

On the night of the 26th of March, 1813, Gene- 
ral Jackson encamped within six miles of the Horse 
Shoe, and early on the following morning. General 
Coffee was detached, with mounted men and most 
of the friendly Indians, under instructions to cross 
the river at a ford two miles below Tohopeca, and 
take possession of the high grounds on the opposite 
bank, so as to cut off all chance of escape in that 
quarter. 

The firing -on the American side was mainly con- 
fined to the artillery, though a rifle or musket was 
occasionally discharged, whenever the dark warriors 
incautiously exposed their persons. For nearly two 
hours, the cannonade was kept up, with spirit and 
activity, though without producing any sensible 
impression. Meantime the friendly Indians had 
advanced to the left bank of the river, while Gen- 
eral Coffee remained on the high ground with the 
rest of his troops. Some of the Cherokees now 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 345 

discovered that the enemy's canoes, which were 
drawn up on the shore, near their village, had been- 
left unguarded. They instantly plunged into the 
stream, swam across, and, in a few moments, re- 
turned with a number of the canoes. Means being 
thus provided for passing over, the Cherokees, 
headed by their chief, Richard Brown, and Colonel 
Morgan, and Captain Russell's company of spies, 
crossed to the village, set it on fire, and attacked 
the enemy in the rear. 

Surrounded though they were, the hostile Indians 
fought with the "utmost bravery and desperation. 
Every avenue by which they might have fled was 
occupied by the American troops, and their habi- 
tations were in flames ; still they refused to surren- 
der, and successfully resisted every attempt of the 
spies and Cherokees to dislodge them. The soldiers 
with General Jackson, clamored loudly to be led 
to -the assault, but he hesitated to give the order, 
till he became convinced that the party in the rear 
were not strong enough to overcome the opposition 
they encountered. The command to storm the 
works was then received with shouts and acclama- 
tions. General Doherty's brigade, and the 39th in- ^ 

fantry, under Colonel "Williams, promptly advanced 
16* 24 



34:6 DARING DEEDS 

to the attack. The result of the contest did not 
long remain in doubt. A fierce struggle was 
maintained for a short time, through the port-holes 
muzzle to muzzle; the action being so close, as 
remarked in the dispatch of the commanding gen- 
eral, that " many of the enemy's balls were welded 
to the American bayonets." Major Montgomery 
of the 39th infantry, was the first to spring upon 
the breastwork, but was shot dead among his com 
rades, who were rushing forward to sustain him 
A smothered cry for vengeance rolled along the 
line, — and the whole column dashed over the feeble 
barrier, like the avalanche, crushing and bearing 
down every thing before it. 

The Indians, fighting with the fury of despair, met 
the shock with clubbed muskets, and rifles, with 
the gleaming knife and tomahawk. Some few at- 
tempted to escape by swimming the river, but were 
shot down in their flight, by the spies and mounted 
men under General Coffee. Most of them, however, 
fought and died where they stood — behind the 
ramparts which they were unable to defend. The 
conflict — nay, we may call it, without reproach 
to the victors, the butchery — was continued for 
hours. ISTone asked for quarter. The Tallapoosa 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 347 

ran red with the blood of the savages, and the 
dead were piled in mangled heaps upon its banks 

Driven from the breastwork, a considerable num- 
ber of the enemy took refuge among the brush and 
fallen timber on the high ground in tlie center of 
the peninsula. General Jackson sent them an in- 
terpreter, to offer terms of capitulation, but they 
fired on and wounded him. The cannon were 
brought to bear on their position, and a partially 
successful charge was made, yet they were not dis- 
lodged. Finally, the brush was set on fire. The 
flames spread with rapidity, snapping and crackling 
as they caught the dry bark and leaves, and licking 
up every thing in their way, like some huge, greedy 
monster. The Indians were now forced from their 
concealment; and all who attempted to fly, or 
offered resistance, were shot down. E"ight at length 
put an end to the carnage, and, under cover of the 
darkness, a few of the survivors of that fatal field 
escaped into the adjoining forests. • 

Five hundred and fifty-seven dead bodies of the 
enemy wer5 found within the peninsula ; and there 
were over 300 taken prisoners, nearly all women and 
children. The total loss of the Eed Sticks, in killed 
alone, must have been near 800 ; as a number of 



348 DAEING DEEDS 

the dead were thrown into the river previous to 
the final rout, by their surviving friends, or shot 
by General Coffee's men while attempting to make 
their escape. Among the slain were three prophets, 
one of whom, by the name of Monohoe, was struck 
by a grape-shot in his mouth, out of which had 
issued the lies which had lured his nation to their 
ruin. 

General Jackson lost fifty-five men killed and 146 
wounded. Twenty-three of the killed, and forty- 
seven of the wounded, were friendly Creeks and 
Cherokees. 



CEUISE OF THE ESSEX. 

Among those by whom the enterprise of the 
American navy was chiefly evinced, was Captain 
Porter, whose cruise on the Pacific terminated about 
this time. As early as the month of October, 1812, 
he sailed from the Delaware in the frigate Essex. 
He doubled Cape Horn, amidst tremendous storms, 
about the middle of February, 1813, and on the 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 349 

15tli of March put into the port of "Valparaiso, and, 
having obtained the necessary supplies, proceeded 
on his cruise, along the coast of Chili, and thence 
to the Gallipagos islands. In the vicinity of these 
isles the Essex cruised for upward of six months, 
during which she totally destroyed that valuable part 
of the enemy's commerce which was carried on in 
those seas. The whole of the British vessels at that 
time in the Pacific, to the number of twelve, car- 
rying in all 107 guns, and 302 men, were captured. 
Their value was estimated at $2,500,000. He con- 
verted one of them into a vessel of war, mounting 
twenty gims, which he named the Essex Junior, 
and sailed for Valparaiso. 

The intelligence of Captain Porter's exploits had 
at length occasioned a force of the enemy to be 
sent in pursuit of him. Soon after his arrival at 
Valparaiso, the Phoebe, a British frigate of thirty- 
eight guns, and a sloop-of-war appeared off the port, 
naving been fitted out expressly to meet the Essex. 
They entered the harbor to obtain provisions, and, 
having effected this, again stood out and cruised 
off the port for about six weeks. Their united force 
was much greater than that of Captain Porter, the 
Essex Junior being of but little utility in action. 



350 DARING DEEDS 

At length, on the 28th March, the Essex made an 
attempt to get to sea, with a favorable wind. The 
enemy's vessels were close to the shore and Cap- 
tain Porter expected to be able to pass to wind- 
ward of them. Unfortunately, however, in rounding 
the point, the American vessel was struck by a 
squall, which carried away her maintop-mast. Thus 
crippled, escape to sea was impossible ; and as it 
was equally difficult to reach the harbor. Captain 
Porter ran 'into a small bay, and anchored within 
pistol-shot of the shore. In this situation it was to 
have been expected that the ordinary rules of war- 
fare, which forbid an attack upon an enemy lying 
within a neutral territory, would have been ob- 
served. It was, nevertheless, soon perceived that 
Captain Hillyar, the English commander, was de- 
termined to avail himself of the opportunity offered, 
without regard to the rights of sovereignty of the 
local government. The Essex was prepared for ac- 
tion with all possible dispatch ; but before a spring 
could be put upon her cable to enable her to bring 
her broadside to bear, the attack was commenced. 
The British commander, desirous of capturing tlie 
Essex with as little loss to himself as possible, 
placed his frigate, the Phoebe, under her stern, 



OF AMEBICAN HEROES. 351 

while the Cherub took a position on her bows. 
The latter, soon finding the fire of the Essex too 
warm, bore up, and ran also under her stern, where 
both ships kept up a heavy and raking fire. Cap- 
tain Porter continued the action for a considerable 
time, with three long twelve-pounders, being all 
the guns which he found it possible to bring to 
bear on the enemy, when, finding his crew falling 
fast around him, he cut his cable, and ran down 
on the enemy, with the intention of laying the 
Phoebe on board. For a short time a close and 
sanguinary action ensued ; but the superior equip- 
ment of the British frigate enabling her to choose 
her distance, she edged off, and continued so heavy 
a fire from her long guns, that Captain Porter de- 
termined to run his ship ashore. He was, however, 
disappointed in this hope by the wind setting off 
the land ; and after an unequal and hopeless con- 
test of three hours, was compelled to give the 
painful order to strike the colors. 



DEFENSE OF FOET STEPHENSON. 

Captain Croghau commanded, a short time, Fort 
Defiance, on the Miami of the lakes ; but after the 
defeat of General Winchester, he was ordered to 
Fort Meigs, upon which the enemy designed an 
attack. Here General Harrison commanded in 
person. Every disposition, both for attack and de- 
fense, was made by the conflicting parties. The 
siege began on the 28th of April, and on the 9th 
of May following, the besiegers commenced their 
retreat, covered with disgrace. Here Croghan par- 
ticularly signalized himself with his corps, by sev- 
eral handsome and brilliant charges on the enemy. 
For his conduct on this occasion, he received the 
particular notice of the commanding general ; and 
was shortly after advanced to a majority, and was 
stationed with his battalion at Upper Sandusky. 
From this he was ordered to Fort Stephenson, 
twenty miles above the mouth of Sandusky river. 

On the 1st of August, General Proctor made his 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 353 

appearance before the fort. His troops consisted 
of 500 regulars, and about YOO Indians of the most 
ferocious kind. There were but 133 effective men 
in tlie garrison, and the works covered one acre 
of ground. The pickets were about ten feet high, 
surrounded bj a ditch, with a block-house at each 
angle of the fort, one of which contained a six- 
pounder. This was the exact state of the post at 
the time the enemy appeared. The first movement 
made bj the enemy was to make such a disposition 
of his forces as to prevent the escape of the gar 
rison, if they should be disposed to attempt it. He 
then sent Colonel Elliott with a flag to demand the 
surrender of the fort. He was met by Ensign 
Shipp. The British officer observed that General 
Proctor had a number of cannon, a large body of 
regular troops, and so many Indians, whom it was 
impossible to control, that if the fort was taken, 
as it must be, the whole of the garrison would be 
massacred. Shipp answered, that it was the detei 
mination of Major Croghan, his officers and men, 
to defend the garrison or be buried in it, and that 
they might do their best. Colonel Elliott addressed 
Mr. Shipp again — "You are a fine young man — 
I pity your situation — for God's sake surrender, 



854 DARING DEEDS 

and prevent the dreadful slaughter that must fullow 
resistance." Shipp turned from him with indigna- 
tion, and was immediately taken hold of by an 
Indian, who attempted to wrest his sword from him. 
Major Croghan, observing what passed, called to 
Shipp to come into the fort, which was instantly 
obeyed, and the action commenced. The firing 
began from the gun-boats in the rear, and was kept 
up during the night. 

At an early hour the next morning, three six- 
pounders, which had been planted during the night 
within 250 yards of the pickets, began to play upon 
the fort, but with little effect. About four P. M., 
all the enemy's guns were concentrated againgt the 
north-western angle of the fort, for the purpose 
of making a breach. To counteract the effect of 
their fire. Major Croghan caused that point to be 
strengthened by means of bags of flour, sand, and 
other materials, in such a manner that the picket- 
ing sustained little or no injury. But the enemy, 
supposing their fire had sufficiently shattered the 
pickets, advanced, to the number of 500, to storm 
the place, at the same time making two feints on 
difierent points. 

The column which advanced against the north- 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 355 

western angle was so completely enveloped in 
emoke, as not to be discovered until it had ap- 
proached within eighteen or twenty paces of the 
lines, but the men being all at their posts, and 
ready to receive it, commenced so heavy and gall- 
ing a fire as to throw the column into confusion; 
but being quickly rallied, Lieutenant-Colonel Short, 
the leader of the column, exclaimed, " Come on, 
my brave fellows, we will give these Yankee rascals 
no quarter," and immediately leaped into the 
ditch, followed by his troops. As soon as the ditch 
was entirely filled by the assailants. Major Croghan 
ordered the six pounder, which had been masked 
in the block-house, to be fired. It had been loaded 
with a double charge of musket balls and slugs. 
The piece completely raked the ditch, from end to 
end. The first fire leveled the one half in death; 
the second or third either killed or wounded every 
one except eleven, who were covered by the dead 
bodies. At the same time, the fire of small arms 
was so incessant and destructive, that it was in 
vain the British officers exerted themselves to lead 
on the balance of the column ; it retired in disorder 
under a shower of shot, and sought safety in an 
adjoining wood. The loss of the enemy in killed 



356 DAEING DEEDS 

was about 150, besides a considerable number of 
their allies. The Americans had but one killed 
and seven slightly wounded. Early in the morning 
of the 3d, the enemy retreated down the river, 
after having abandoned considerable baggage. 



CAPTURE OF THE EPERYIEE. 

On the 29th of April, 1813, the sloop-of-war 
Peacock, of eighteen guns, commanded by Captain 
Warrington, fell in with, and after an action of forty- 
two minutes, captured the British brig-of-war Eper- 
vier, of a like number of guns, and 128 men, of 
whom eight were killed and fifteen wounded. The 
Peacock was deprived of the use of her foresail 
and foretop-sail in the early part of the action ; but 
received no other injury, two men only being 
slightly wounded. The prize had on board $120,000 
in specie, which was transferred to the Peacock, 
and both vessels arrived in safety in the United 
States. 



DEFENSE OF SACKETT'S HAEBOR. 

On tlie evening of the 27th of May, the British 
fleet from Kingston was discovered bearing in the 
direction of Sackett's Harbor, by the small vessels 
under Lieutenant Chauncey, who had been sent out 
to reconnoiter. The alarm guns were instantly fired, 
and a messenger was also dispatched to General 
Brown with the information. After issuing orders 
for the militia to assemble, he repaired to the post 
of danger. The delay experienced by the enemy 
in the attempt, but partially successful, to capture 
a number of boats coming from Oswego with troops, 
fortunately gave time to collect some 500 or 600 
men : but not more than 1000 could be assembled 
in all, including the invalids. At the request of 
Lieutenant-Colonel Backus, who had been but a 
short time at the station, and was unacquainted 
with the localities. General Brown took command 
of the united force. In the afternoon of the 28th, 
the hostile fleet, which consisted of four sliips, one 



358 DARING DEEDS 

brig, two scliooners, two gun-boats, and thirty-three 
flat-bottomed boats, containing 1000 picked troops, 
under Sir George Prevost and Commodore Sir 
James Yeo, appeared in the offing. Under the 
orders of General Brown, a breastwork was hastily, 
but skillfully thrown up, at the only point where a 
landing could be readily effected, — the primeval 
forests sweeping away, for miles on miles, in rear 
of the town, and on either side of the opening 
leading down to the margin of the lake. The 
militia, and the Albany volunteers, under Colonel 
Mills, who had recently arrived, were posted behind 
the breastwork with a field-piece. The regular 
troops under Lieutenant-Colonel Backus, were sta- 
tioned in a second line, in rear, and near the bar- 
racks and public buildings. Lieutenant Fanning, 
with his artillerists, occupied Fort Tompkins, at the 
barracks ; and Lieutenant Chauncey and his men 
were ordered to defend the stores at Navy Point. 
During the night of the 28th, General Brown 
was constantly on the alert. His men slept on 
their 'arms, while he and his officers reconnoitered 
the shores of the lake. All was quiet, however, 
save the mournful sighing of the breeze among the 
dark pines and liemlocks, the tall oaks and maples, 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 359 

in the neighboring forests, and the constant dashing 
of the tiny waves on the pebbly beach, till the early 
dawn on the following morning. The British were 
then descried pushing rapidly toward the landing 
in their small boats. As they approached, the 
American militia appeared cheerful and animated, 
and betrayed no symptoms of fear ; on the contrary, 
they seemed anxious to participate in the conflict. 
The orders of General Brown were, to permit 
the enemy to come within pistol-shot, and then, 
taking deliberate aim, to open on them vigorously 
with the field-piece and musketry. The first fire 
was well-directed, and very destructive; the shot 
tearing and crashing through the sides of the boats, 
knocking off the gunwales, splintering the bowls of 
the oars, and killing and wounding several officers 
and men. The British were thrown into confusion ; 
their advance was checked ; and a few more rounds 
would undoubtedly have terminated the engage- 
ment. But after firing the second round, the mili- 
tia, for the first time in action, were seized with a 
sudden panic, and, in spite of the efforts of their 
officers, retreated in disorder. Colonel Mills lost 
his life in the vain attempt to prevent the retreat. 
General Brown succeeded in rallying about ninety 



SCO DARING DEEDS 

men belonging to the company of Captain McKitt, 
whom he formed in line with the regulars, who 
maintained their position with spirit and bravery. 

Meanwhile Sir George Prevost had disembarked 
his troops on the beach, and commenced his march 
toward the village. But the enemy now encountered 
the most desperate opposition from the little band 
of Americans who remained firm, encouraged by 
the presence of General Brown, and the heroic 
example of the brave but unfortunate Backus, who 
fell mortally wounded during the attack. Though 
compelled to give way before superior numbers, 
they disputed every inch of ground, and finally 
took possession of the barrack buildings. Here, 
partially sheltered, they poured their gallant volleys 
on the enemy; at the same time. Lieutenant Fan- 
ning, though severely wounded, directed the fire 
of his gun with remarkable precision and effect. 

The British having made repeated efforts to dis 
lodge the Americans, without success. General 
Brown exhorted his men to continue the defense 
of the position to the last extremity, while he made 
another effort to rally the militia to their assistance. 
He then hastened to overtake the fugitives. Hav- 
ino collected a large number of them together, he 



OF AMEBIC AN HEROES. 861 

earnestly addressed them, rebuking both officers 
and men for their lack of corn-age, with such force 
and eloquence, that many of them shed tears when 
he alluded to the brave conduct of the regulars and 
volunteers, who, though strangers to the soil, were 
more prompt to defend it, than they, its owners 
and occupants. He now ordered them to form and 
follow him, declaring that he would punish the first 
act of disobedience with instant death. Although 
his orders were obeyed without reluctance, he was 
afraid to rely upon their firmness in an open 
attack. 

Being unwilling, therefore, to meet the enemy 
with the troops whom he had just rallied. General 
Brown determined to effect by stratagem what he 
was fearful he could not otherwise accomplish. Di- 
recting the militia to pass through the edge of the 
forest, in sight of the field of battle, as if affecting 
to conceal the movement, he marched them by a 
circuitous route toward the place of landing. The 
British, suspecting an attempt to turn their flank 
and capture their boats, became alarmed, and made 
a precipitate retreat, leaving behind them all their 
killed, a number of their wounded, and thirty-five 
prisoners. 25 



CAPTUKE OF THE llEINDEEll. . 

About the first of May, the sloop-of-war Wasp, 
of eighteen guns, commanded by Captain Blakel}', 
Bailed from Portsmouth on her first cruise. After 
capturing seven merchantmen, she encountered, on 
the 28th of June, the British brig-of-war Reindeer, 
of nineteen guns and 118 men. After a series of 
maneuvers oh the part of the latter, by which a 
close action was for a long time prevented, a warm 
eno^aocement commenced, which was continued with 
great spirit on both sides for upward of two hours, 
during which the enemy several times attempted 
to board, but were as often repulsed. The crew 
of the Wasp now boarded with great ardor, and in 
a few minutes resistance ceased and the British 
flag was haided down. Owing to the proximity of 
the two vessels and the smoothness of the sea, the 
loss on both sides was severe. That of the Ameri- 
cans was five killed and twenty-one wounded ; while 
the British lost twenty -five killed, including Captain 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 363 

Manners, and forty-two wounded. The Keindeer 
was so much injured that it was found necessary 
to set her on fire. 

Captain Blakely, continuing his cruise, about the 
1st of September discovered a fleet of merchantmen 
under convoy of a seventy-four gun-ship. One of 
them was taken, and after removing her cargo, was 
set on fire. On the same evening he fell in with 
and captured the British sloop-of-war Avon, of 
twenty guns. The appearance of a British squadron 
compelled him to abandon his prize, which sunk 
soon after the removal of her crew. 

The damage sustained in this action being soon 
repaired, Captain Blakely continued his cruise, and 
on the 23d of September, captured the British brig 
Atlantic, w^hich he sent into the United States. 
From this period no tidings ever reached the re- 
public of this gallant ship. "Whether she foundered 
in darkness or tempest, or perished in a conflict 
with an enemy, has never been ascertained. 



ENTEEPEISE AITD BOXEK. 

On the 1st of September, the Enterprise, Captain 
Burroughs, sailed from Portsmouth on a cruise. On 
the 5th, early in the morning, they espied a brig 
in shore, getting under way. They reconnoitered 
her for a wliile to ascertain her character, of which 
they were soon informed by her hoisting three 
British ensigns, and firing a shot as a challenge. 
The Enterprise then hauled upon a wind, stood out 
of the bay, and prepared for action. A calm for 
some time delayed the encounter ; it was succeeded 
by a breeze from the southwest, which gave our 
vessel the weather-gage. After maneuvering for a 
while to the windward, in order to try her sailing 
with the enemy, and to ascertain his force, the 
Enterprise, about three, P. M., shortened sail, 
hoisted three ensigns, fired a gim, tacked and ran 
down with an intention to bring him to close 
quarters. When within half pistol-shot, the enemy 
gave three cheers, and commenced the action with 



I 



OF AMERICAN II E K O E S . 365 

his starboard broadside. The cheers and the 
broadside were returned on our part, and the ac- 
tion became generah In about five minutes after 
the battle had commenced, the gallant Burroughs 
received a musket-ball in his body and fell ; he, 
however, refused to be carried below, but continued" 
on deck through the action. The active command 
was then taken bj Lieutenant McCall, who con- 
ducted himself with great skill and coolness. The 
enemy was out-maneuvered and cut up ; his main- 
top-mast and topsail -yard shot away ; a position 
gained on his starboard bow, and a raking fire kept 
up, until his guns were silenced and he cried for 
quarter, saying that as his colors were nailed to 
the mast he could not haul them down. The prize 
proved to be his Britannic majesty's brig Boxer, 
of fourteen guns. The number of her crew is a 
matter of conjecture and dispute. 

"We turn gladly from such an idle discussion to 
notice the last moments of the worthy Burroughs. 
There needs no elaborate pencil to impart pathos 
and grandeur to the death of a brave man. The 
simple anecdotes, given in simple terms by his 
surviving comrades, present more striking pictures 
than could be wrought up by the most refined 



366 DARING DEEDS 

attempts of art. " At twenty minutes past three 
P. M.," says one account, " our brave commander 
fell, and while lying on the deck, refusing to be 
carried below, raised his head and requested that 
tlie flag iniglit never he struck?'' In this situation 
lie remained during the rest of the engagement, 
regardless of bodily pain ; regardless of the life- 
blood fast ebbing from his wound ; watching with 
anxious eye the vicissitudes of battle ; cheering his 
men by his voice, but animating them still more 
by his glorious example. "When the sworjd of the 
vanquished enemy was presented to him, we are 
told that he clasped his hands and exclaimed, " I 
am satisfied, I die contented." He now permitted 
himself to be carried below, and the necessary at- 
tentions were paid to save his life, or alleviate his 
sufferings. His wound, however, was beyond the 
power of surgery, and he breathed his last within 
a few hours after the victory. 



COMMODOKE PEKRY'S VICTORY ON 
LAKE ERIE. 

Perrj took charge of the flotilla of gun-boata 
stationed in the harbor of E'ew York, early in 1812, 
with the rank of master-commandant. Here he 
remained about a year, disciplining his crews. As 
war had begun its ravages between Great Britain 
and the United States, he sought a more active 
sphere ; and, at his own request, he was transferred 
to the service on the lakes. 

In pursuance of this disposition of his services, 
he repaired with a reinforcement of seamen to 
Sackett's Harbor, on Lake Ontario, to act under 
Commodore Chauncej. The transportation of the 
seamen from the sea-board to the harbor, from its 
novelty to the sons of E'eptune, afforded them the 
highest amusement, particularly as it was a " land- 
cruise " in the depth of winter. 

After remaining at Sackett's Harbor some time, 
Commodore Chauncey dispatched Perry to take 



ouS DARING DEEDS 

cjiarge of tlie squadron then fitted and fitting out 
on Lake Erie, and to hasten their equipments. At 
tliis time, the British fleet on that lake was com- 
manded by Captain Barclay, an officer of high 
standing, rank, and skill, who had seen much ser- 
vice, and whose force was of superior strength to 
the American squadron. 

Perry pursued his object unmolested by the 
enemy, who was continually hovering about the 
]: arbor. Having equipped and manned his ves- 
sels, he buoyed tliem over the bar, on which was 
orly five feet of water, at the harbor's mouth of 
the port of Erie, on the 4th of August, 1813. The 
enemy were peaceable spectators of the scene. The 
next day he sailed in pursuit of them, and returned 
to port on the 8th, without accomplishing hia 
oltject. 

Kothing of moment happened until the morn- 
ing of the 10th of September. The American 
squadron was then lying at anchor at Put-in-Bay, 
and consisted of brigs Lawrence, Commodore Perry, 
twenty guns ; Niagara, Captain Elliot, twenty guns ; 
Caledonia, Purser McGrath, three guns ; schooners 
Ariel, Lieutenant Packet, four guns ; Scorpion, Sail- 
ing-Master Champlain, two guns ; Somers, Almy, 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 369 

two guns, and two swivels ; Tigress, Lieutenant 
Conklin, one gun; Porcupine, Midshipman G. 
Senat, one gun ; sloop Trippe, Lieutenant Smith, 
one gun ; in all, fortj-four guns. 

At sunrise they discovered the enemy, and im- 
mediately got under way and stood for him, with 
a light wind at southwest. The British force con- 
sisted of ship Detroit, nineteen guns, one on pivot 
and two howitzers ; Queen Charlotte, seventeen 
guns, one on pivot ; schooner Lady Prevost, thir- 
teen guns, one on pivot ; brig Hunter, ten guns ; 
sloop Little Belt, three guns ; schooner Chippeway, 
one gun, two swivels ; in all, sixty-three guns. 

At ten A. M., the wind hauled to the southeast, 
and brought our squadron to windward. Commo- 
dore Perry then hoisted his union jack, having for 
a motto the dying words of the valiant Lawrence, 
" Don't give up the ship ! " It was received with 
repeated^ cheerings by the officers and crews. And 
now, having formed'his line, he bore for the enemy ; 
who likewise cleared for action, and hauled up his 
courses. As the hostile squadrons approached each 
other, suddenly a bugle w^as sounded on board the 
enemy's ship Detroit, and loud huzzas immediately 
burst forth from all their crews. 



370 DARING DEEDS 

As soon as the Lawrence came within the reach 
of the enemy's long guns, they opened a heavy 
fire upon her, which, from the shortness of her 
guns, she was unable to return. Perry, without 
waiting for his schooners, kept on his course, which 
induced the enemy to suppose it was his intention 
to board. In a few minutes, having gained a nearer 
position, he opened his fire. The length of the 
enemy's guns, however, gave them greatly the ad- 
vantage, and the Lawrence was excessively cut up, 
without being able to do any great damage in re- 
turn. Their shot pierced her sides in all directions, 
killing the men on the berth-deck and in the steer- 
age, whe?*e they had been taken down to be dressed. 
One shot had nearly produced a fatal explosion ; 
passing through the light room, it knocked the 
snuff of the candle into the magazine ; fortunately 
the gunner happened to see it, and had the pres- 
ence of mind to extinguish it immediately, with 
his hand. 

Their heaviest fire was directed at the Lawrence, 
and Perry, finding the hazards of his situation, 
made sail, and directed the other vessels to follow, 
for the purpose of closing with the foe. The tre- 
mendous fire, however, to which he was exposed, 



• OF AMERICAN HEROES. 371 

soon cut away every brace and bowline, and tbe 
Lawrence became unmanageable. 

Even in this disastrous pligbt, she sustained the 
action for upward of two hours, within canister 
distance, though for a great part of the time the 
Lawrence could not get more than three guns to 
bear upon her antagonist. It was adniirable to be- 
hold the perfect order and regularity that prevailed 
among her valiant and devoted crew, throughout 
this scene of horror. 'No trepidation, no confusion 
occurred, even for an instant ; as fast as the men 
were wounded, they were carried below, and others 
stept into their places ; the dead remained where 
tliey fell, until after the action. At this juncture, the 
fortune of the battle trembled on a point, and the 
enemy believed the day their own. The Lawrence 
was reduced to a mere WTeck ; her decks were 
streaming with blood, and covered with mangled 
limbs, and the bodies of the slain ; her guns were 
dismounted, and the commodore and his officers 
helped to work the last gun that was capable of 
being used. 

Finding the Lawrence was incapable of further 
service, he gave his vessel in charge to Lieutenant 
Yarnall. who had already distinguished himself by 



372 DARINGDEEDS * 

his bravery, and hauled down his union, bearing 
the motto of Lawrence, and taking it under his 
arm ordered it to be put on board the Niagara, 
which was then in close engagement. In leaving 
the Lawrence, he gave his pilot choice, either to 
remain on board or accompany him ; the pilot re- 
plied, " He'd stick by him to the last," and jumped 
into the boat. Perry went off from the ship stand- 
ing up in the stern of the boat, until the crew 
absolutely pulled him down among them. Broad- 
sides were leveled at him, and small arms dis- 
charged by the enemy, two of whose vessels were 
within musket-shot, and a third one nearer. The 
balls struck around him and flew over his head in 
every direction ; but the same special Providence 
that seems to have watched over the youthful hero 
throughout this desperate battle, conducted him 
safely through a shower of shot, and his shij^mates 
beheld with transport his flag hoisted at the mast- 
head of the Niagara. No sooner was he on board, 
than Captain Elliot volunteered to put ofl' in a small 
boat, and bring into action the schooners which had 
been kept astern by light winds ; the ofi'er was 
accepted, and Elliot left the Niagara to j^ut it in 
execution. 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 373 

Commodore Perry now made signal for close 
action, and the small vessels got out their sweeps 
and made all sail. Finding that the IS'iagara was 
but little injured, he determined, if possible, to 
break the enemy's line. He accordingly bore u]) 
and passed ahead of the two ships and brig, giving 
them a raking fire from his starboard guns, and 
also to a large schooner and sloop from his larboard 
side, about half pistol-shot distance. Having passed 
the whole squadron, he luffed up and laid his ship 
alongside the British commodore. The smaller ves- 
sels, under the command of Captain Elliot, having 
in the meantime got within grape and canister dis- 
tance, and keeping up a well-directed fire, the whole 
of the enemy struck, excepting two small vessels, 
which attempted to escape, but were afterward 
taken. 



BATTLE OF THE THAMES. 

Previous to the battle of the Thames, Commo- 
dore Perry's victory had oj)ened the way for the 

2G 



374 DARING DEEDS 

passage of the American army into Canada, and on 
the 3d of October, General Harrison left Sandwich 
in pursuit of Proctor with about 140 regulars, 
Colonel Johnson's mounted regiment, and the 
Kentucky volunteers, under the venerable Governor 
Shelby, amounting, in the whole, to near 3050 men. 
Harrison was accompanied by Commodore Perry, 
who volunteered as his aid-de-camp. 

The army reached the river Thames, which falls 
into Lake St. Clair, twenty-five miles above De- 
troit, the same evening, and next morning crossed 
by a bridge, which Proctor had neglected to destroy. 
IText morning, about eight miles above their 
encampment, the army arrived at the third unford- 
able branch of the Thames, where they found that 
the bridge over its mouth, as well as one a mile 
above, had been taken up by the Indians. Here 
several hundred of the Indians attempted to dispute 
the passage of the troops, but the fire from two 
six-pounders soon drove them ofi"; and in about 
two hours after, the bridge was repaired, and the 
troops crossed just in time to extinguish a house 
that had been set on fire, containing a considera- 
ble number of muskets, w^hich were fortunately 
saved. At the first farm above the bridge was found 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 375 

one of the enemy's vessels on fire, and here intel- 
ligence was received that thej were but a few 
miles ahead. 

The army halted for the night about four miles 
above the bridge, where they found two other vessels, 
and a large distillery, filled with ordnance and 
other valuable stores to an immense amount, in 
flames. It was impossible to extinguish the fire ; 
but two mounted twenty-four-pounders were taken, 
and a large quantity of ball and shells of various 
sizes. Early on the morning of the 5th, the troops 
were again put in motion, and in the afternoon the 
officer commanding the advance sent to inform Gen- 
eral Harrison that his progress was stopj)ed by 
the enemy, who were formed across the line of 
march. 

Between the two armies the road passed through 
an uncleared beech forest, pretty clear of underwood, 
near the banks of a river, parallel to w^hich, at 
the distance of 200 or 300 yards, extended a 
swamp several miles in length. Across this strip 
of land the British were drawn up, their left rest- 
ing on the river, supported by artillery ; their rigbfc 
on tlie swamp, covered by the Indians. 

The army moved on in order but a short distance, 



376 DAKING DEEDS 

when the moimted men received the fire of the 
British line, and were instantly ordered to charge. 
The horses in the front of the column recoiled from 
the fire ; but on receiving a second fire, the column 
got into motion, and immediately, at full speed, 
broke through the enemy with irresistible force. 
In one minute the contest was over in front. The 
British officers, seeing no hope of reducing their 
disordered ranks to order, the mounted infantry 
wheeling upon them and pouring in a destructive 
fire, immediately surrendered. Only three of the 
Americans were wounded in this charge. 

Upon the American left, however, the contest 
with the Indians was more severe. Colonel John- 
son who commanded on that flank of his regiment, 
received a most galling fire from them, which was 
returned with great eifect. The Indians still further 
to the left advanced and fell in with the front line 
of infantry, and for a moment made an impression 
upon it. Governor Shelby, however, who was sta- 
tioned near this point, brought up a regiment to 
its support. The enemy now received a severe fire 
in front, and a part of the mounted men having 
gained their rear, they immediately retreated with 
precipitation. 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 377 

Of the British troops, twelve were killed and 
twentj-two wounded in this action, and 601 regu- 
lars taken prisoners. General Proctor escaped by 
the fleetnesB of his horses, escorted hj forty dra- 
goons, and a number of mounted Indians. The 
Indians suiFered the greatest loss. Thirty-three 
were found dead on the ground, besides numbers 
who were killed in the retreat. On the day of 
the action six pieces of brass artillery were taken, 
and two twenty-fom'-pounders the day before. Of 
the brass peices, three were trophies of the Revolu- 
tionary war that were taken at Saratoga and York, 
and surrendered by General Hull. The number 
of arms captured by the Americans, or destroyed 
by the enemy, must have exceeded 5000; most of 
them had been taken by the British at Detroit, and 
the river Eaisin, and the Miami. The loss of the 
Americans was seven killed and twenty-two woun- 
ded, five of whom afterward died. 

The death of Tecumseh, which took place in this 
action, has been attributed to Colonel Johnson. 



CHAPTER XL— 1814. 



BATTLE OF CHIPPEWA. 

During the night of the 2d of July, 1814, Gen- 
eral Brown embarked his troops, but little more 
thon 3000 strong, at Black Rock ; and early in the 
morning of the 3d, General Scott landed below the 
fort with his brigade, and a battalion of artillery 
under Major Hindman, and General Ripley, with 
his brigade, above. The commanding general fol- 
lowed with the volunteer forces, — and a party of 
Indians were sent round through the woods in rear 
of the enemy's position. The fort was soon in- 
vested, and a battery of heavy guns planted in a 
position that completely commanded its defenses. 
Without awaiting the threatened assault, after firing 
a few guns, the garrison surrendered themselves 
prisoners of war. 

The main body of the British troops in the im- 
mediate vicinity of the river, amounting to over 
3000 men, under Major General RIall, occupied an 




GENERAL SCOTT. 



OF AMERICAN HEEOES. 379 

intrenclied camp at Chippewa, about two miles 
above the Falls. Leaving a small garrison in Fort 
Erie, General Brown advanced, on the day after its 
reduction, against the position of General Kiall. 
The brigade of General Scott, which, with Captain 
Towson^s battery, formed the advance, had a run- 
ning fight, for sixteen miles, w^ith the 100th regi- 
ment, commanded by the Marquis of Tweedale, 
and finally drove it across the Chippewa Creek. 
In the evening, the whole army encamped on the 
south bank of Street's Creek, the bridge over which 
had been destroyed by the Marquis, within two 
miles of the enemy's works. Between this stream 
and the Chippewa, lay the broad plain on which 
the sanguinary engagement of the following day 
took place. On the east were the waters of the 
Niagara, speeding along in their arrowy flight, to 
the cataract beyond ; and on the west was a dense 
forest of oaks, and beeches, and maples, extending 
for several miles into the interior. 

At an early hour on the morning of the 5th of 
July, the British light troops, consisting of Cana- 
dian militia and Indians, who were posted in the 
woods on the left, commenced making attacks on 

the American pickets placed on that flank, and 
18 



380 DARING DEEDS 

small parties of the enemy occasionally appeared 
in the open plain in front. 

General Brown was anxious to bring on an en- 
gagement with the enemy, and, in order to effect 
this object, or, if that were fonnd impossible, to put 
an end to the annoying fire of their skirmishers, he 
directed General Porter to fetch a circuit through 
the forest with the volunteers and Indians, and 
cut off their retreat ; and the advanced parties were 
ordered to fall back before the fire of their oppo- 
nents, and thus favor the movement. About four 
o'clock in the afternoon, General Porter encountered 
the light companies of the Poyal Scots and the 
100th regiment, in the woods, and drove them back 
upon the Chij)pewa, where they met the whole 
British column, under General Piall, who had an- 
ticipated the intentions of General Brown, and was 
now rapidly approaching with the hope of finding 
the Americans unprepared for his reception. 

The commanding general had accompanied the 
volunteers, but, on hearing the roar of the artillery, 
and discovering the clouds of dust rising in the 
vicinity of Chippewa bridge, he returned to camp, 
and ordered General Scott to advance forthwith, 
with the first brigade and Towson's battery, and 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 381 

engage the enemy on the open plain, while he 
brought up the second brigade, under general Rip- 
ley, to act at whatever point it might be needed. 
The order was executed with all possible speed. 
The troops under General Scott dashed across the 
creek, and through the clumps of bushes fringing 
its bank, under a galling fire of musketry and ar- 
tillery, and were soon enveloped in the wreaths of 
sulphurous smoke rising over the battle field ; their 
shouts and cheers, borne merrily on the breeze, and 
the deep-toned thunder of their artillery, and their 
sharp rattling volleys, announcing the spirit and 
eagerness with which they entered into the contest. 
Meanwhile the British light troops had rallied, and 
compelled the volunteers of General Porter, in turn, 
to give way. The left fiank of Scott's brigade, 
therefore, became much exposed; and the 21st in- 
fantry, forming part of General Ripley's brigade, 
which had been held in reserve, was detached to 
gain the rear of the enemy's right flank. The 
greatest exertions were made to reach their position 
in time, but in vain ; for such was the impetuosity 
of the attack made by General Scott, that the battle 
was fought and the victory won, before they had 
time to participate in the conflict. 



382 DARING DEEDS 

After the retreat of the volunteers, the 25th in 
fantrj, commanded by Major Jesup, on the extreme 
left of Scott's brigade, in the forest, was warmly 
pressed in front and in flank, being exposed to a 
withering tempest of musket balls that was fast 
thinning their ranks ; but, at this critical period, 
their brave leader gave his well-known order, — 
"Support arms — forward, march!" — Men who 
could advance without faltering in such fearful peril 
were not to be resisted. Having gained a more 
favorable position, they returned the fire of the 
enemy, with interest, and in a few minutes com- 
pelled them to seek safety in flight. 

In the other part of the field, equal zeal and 
gallantry were displayed. The strife was bloody 
and fiercely contested on both sides, but of short 
duration. A warm fire was kept up for about an 
hour, when the enemy's artillery was silenced ; 
but their infantry were now ordered to move for- 
ward with charged bayonets. As they advanced, 
a raking fire was poured upon them from Towson's 
guns, which Scott had posted in the road to Chip- 
pewa, and this was followed, almost instantly, by 
a destructive volley from the 9th and 11th infantry, 
thrown forward on their outer flanks, and that 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 383 

tremendous charge wMcli scattered the pride of 
the English soldiery like chaff before the wind. 
The enemy's whole line now wavered and broke, 
and they were hotly pursued to their intrenchments. 
Here the advance of the victors was checked by 
the batteries which opened their fire. General 
Brown had already hastened forward with the re- 
serve, and joined in the pursuit. He at once de- 
cided to force the British position, which was well 
fortified, having a heavy battery on one fiank, and 
a strong block-house on the other. The ordnance 
was brought up for the purpose, but, as the hour 
was late, and the men burning with thirst, and 
wearied with the fatigues of the day, upon consult- 
ing with his officers, it was concluded to retire to 
camp rather than hazard what had been gained by 
an attack which might terminate in a disastrous 
repulse. 

The number of troops actually engaged in this 
battle, on the side of the British, was not far from 
2100; the American force was about 1900. The 
loss of the enemy, according to the official report 
of the action, was 138 killed, and 365 wounded and 
missing. Of the Americans there were sixty killed, 
and 267 wounded and missing. 



BATTLE OF LUJ^DY'S LANE. 

On the 24th of July, 1814, General Brown re- 
crossed the Chippewa Creek, and encamped. About 
noon on the 25th, while his men were busily en- 
gaged in making preparations for the march, he 
was informed that the British appeared in consider- 
able force on Queenston heights ; that four of their 
vessels had arrived during the previous night at 
the mouth of the Niagara ; and that a number of 
boats were moving up the stream. 

The troops were instantly ordered under arms, 
and in twenty minutes General Scott was on the 
road to Queenston with his brigade, Towson's artil- 
lery, and a troop of dragoons. About two miles 
from the American camp, and within a short dis- 
tance of the Falls, he learned that the enemy were 
in force in his front, separated from view only 
by a narrow piece of wood. Having dispatched 
Assistant Adjutant General Jones, to General 
Brown, with the intelligence, he held on his 



OF AMEKICAN HEKOES. 385 

march, and in a short time discovered the British 
array, treble his own force in numbers, strongly 
posted on Lundy's Lane, which led up from the 
Falls to Beaver Dams. Regardless of the great 
disparity between the two •armies, General Scott 
promptly made his dispositions for battle, fully de- 
termined to maintain his ground till the reserve 
came up. 

The Americans deployed in line on the left of 
the Queenston road. Major Jesup was thrown for- 
ward on the right with his regiment, and Captain 
Towson was posted on the left opposite the enemy's 
artillery. All were elated with their recent victory, 
and animated by the best spirit. Undismayed by 
the terrible fire which they encountered, they ad- 
vanced firmly and steadily against the closely 
serried columns of the enemy. 

General Scott and his men held their ground 
manfully, till the arrival of General Brown, who 
had hurried forward with his suite, in advance of 
the brigades of General Ripley and Porter, as soon 
as the firing was heard. Meanwhile the 11th and 
22d infantry, under Colonel Brady and Major Mc- 
Neil, both of whom were severely wounded, having 

expended their ammunition, were withdrawn from 
18* 37 



386 BAKING DEEDS 

action, and the whole brunt of the battle in front, 
was sustained by the 9th infantry, commanded by 
Major Leavenworth. "With unswerving courage this 
regiment resisted every effort of the enemy, though 
with the loss of half their number, until their op- 
ponents suspended the attack. General Riall was 
deceived by the obstinacy of their resistance, and 
as it was impossible to distinguish objects with any 
precision, he supposed the entire American army 
was engaged, and was therefore content to wait for 
General Drummond to come up with the reinforce- 
ments. 

For a few moments the roar of battle was hushed, 
and the silence was only broken by the unceasing 
murmur of the cataract, and the groans of the 
wounded and the dying. During the temporary 
suspension of the fire. General Eipley, with his 
brigade and the remainder of the artillery under 
Major Hindman, and the volunteers under General 
Porter, arrived upon the ground. With these fresh 
troops General Brown formed a new alignment, to 
cover the exhausted command of General Scott, 
who fell back behind their comrades. The respite 
was of brief duration, and the action was soon re- 
newed with increased warmth. Wider and wider 



OF AMEJEilCAN H E Tw O E S . 387 

reverbo.'jvt^J the deep echoes of the artillery ; 
higher and .V^ghor rose the sharp, continued roll 
of musketry ; lond was the Briton's cheer, and 
louder yet the answering shout of defiance. 

Captain Towson had failed to make any impres- 
sion on the enemy's battery, though his guns were 
skillfully and actively directed ; and on the renewal 
of the engagement, undor the advice of Major Mc- 
Kee, the senior Engineer officer. General Brown 
determined to carry the eminence on which it was 
posted, at the point of the bayonet. The execution 
of this enterprise was intrusted to Colonel Miller 
with the 21st infantry. The reply of the gallant 
colonel, when he received the order to advance, 
from General Bipley, is memorable in history — 
" / loill try^ sir ! " said the intrepid soldier. The 
trial was made, — nor made in vain. Supported by 
the 23d infantry under Major McFarland, while the 
1st infantry, under Colonel Kicholas, which had 
joined the army that day, was left to receive the 
enemy's fire in front. Colonel Miller moved up the 
liill through a raging flood of missiles. The 1st 
staggered under the tremendous fire to which it 
was exposed, the 23d faltered, but the brave 21st, 
following their heroic leader, rushed up the height 



3S8 DAEING DEEDS 

with accelerated speed. On reaching the summit 
ihej paused an instant, and then rushed forward 
with shouts and cheers. The British troops had 
fought bravely, for they were anxious to wipe out 
the discredit of their late defeat. The cannoniers 
w^ere transfixed at their posts, and for a few sec- 
onds there was a fierce contest fought hand to hand, 
over the loaded guns. But the daring onset of the 
Americans was not to be resisted ; the discipline 
of the British soldiery gave way before it ; their 
artillery was captured, and their routed columns, 
sullen and discontented, retired slowly down the 
hill. 

Meanwhile Major Jesup had turned the enemy's 
left with the 25th infantry, and, favored by the 
darkness, had cautiously advanced in their rear. A 
detachment from his command, under Captain 
Ketchum, succeeded in reaching the place where 
Generals Drummond and Riall were stationed with 
their suites. The former made his escape, but the 
latter was taken prisoner with his staff. A large 
number af prisoners, in addition, were captured by 
Major Jesup, and he then moved to the left to 
attack the enemy in rear. Coming upon a body 
of their troops posted in the Queenston road, about 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 389 

the time of the capture of the battery, his men 
delivered their fire, as galling as it was unexpected, 
and instantly dashed over the fence that separated 
them. The enemy broke and fled, and, as the 1st 
and 23d infantry had been already rallied by the an- 
imated efforts of General Ripley, the whole British 
line was now forced. 

General Brown was prompt to improve the ad- 
vantage he had gained, as the British officers were 
heard encouraging their men for a desperate effort 
to recover their cannon. While they were engaged 
in re-forming their broken masses under the hill, he 
advanced his line, placing the captured guns in his 
rear ; General Porter being on the extreme left 
with his volunteers. General Ripley's brigade occu- 
pying the center, and Major Hindman being sta- 
tioned in the interval between the second brigade 
and the 25th infantry, which was posted on the 
right of the line. The first brigade, under General 
Scott, was held in reserve. 

A gloomy and ominous silence prevailed for a 
short time, and it was then interrupted by the 
lively strains of martial music, as the British col- 
umns were again ordered to advance. General 
Drummond had given his men but a few moments 



390 DARING DEEDS 

to recover from the effects of their repulse. With 
great daring and intrepidity they marched up the 
height, at double quick time, presenting an ex- 
tended line outflanking the Americans on both ex- 
tremes. Within twenty yards of the crest of the 
eminence, they poured forth their vollej^s, and pre- 
pared to rush forward with their bayonets. In an 
instant the American line was one blaze of fire. 
The enemy staggered ; another volley, followed 
rapidly by another, and still another, caused them 
to hreak and retire down the hill in confusion, 
despite the exertions of their officers to inspire 
them with confidence. 

Another half hour passed in suspense, and again 
the measured tread of the advancing columns was 
heard, as they rose the hill. The Americans 
reserved their fire till it could be most effective, 
and when the enemy came within range, the artil- 
lery of Major Hindman once more pealed forth its 
brazen notes, and, as they pressed nearer and 
nearer, the rattling musketry was added to the din. 
But the constant shower of shot and ball poured 
upon them soon checked their advance. For nearly 
half an hour they strove in vain to overcome the 
firmness of the American troops. The contest was 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 391 

warm and animated ; and, during its continuance, 
General Scott, who had consolidated his brigade 
into one battalion, under Major Leavenworth, made 
two effective charges on the left and right of the 
British line, in the latter of which he received two 
.severe wounds, that soon after obliged him to quit 
the field. General Brown was always where his 
presence was needed — in the front of the battle. 

Heedless of the exposure of his person, he was 
ever ready to utter words of encouragement where 
symptoms of hesitation were manifested ; to com- 
mend «wery act of noble daring; and to arouse 
his men to further exertions. His efforts were well 
seconded by the chivalric bearing and the dauntless 
intrepidity of Scott and Hipley and Porter. Unable 
to make head against the stern and unyielding re- 
sistance of the American soldiers. General Drnm- 
mond was a second time forced to draw off his 
men. 

The contest was not yet ended. Additional re- 
inforcements had joined the enemy, and, after the 
lapse of another hour, their hesitating columns were 
encouraged to make one more effort for the victory. 
Eegardless of the havoc made in their ranks, the 
British troops advanced boldly under a withering 



392 DARING DEEDS 

fire. This time they gained the summit of the hill, 
never pausing after they had delivered their fire, 
and dosed with their antagonists. The battle waa 
now at its height. The beams of the rising moon 
struggled vainly to penetrate the murky pall that 
overhung the field of combat, but the darkness wa^ 
illuminated by the constant flashing of musketry 
and artillery. Two lines of armed men, merged 
with each other, were seen surging to and fro. The 
earth shook beneath their feet. Foot to foot, and 
breast to breast, they fought. Locked in the death 
struggle, the Briton and the American fell together. 
The green sward was soaked with blood ; it col- 
lected in pools in the ridges made by the plough- 
ing shot; and ran down in rivulets to mingle its 
crimson dyes with the limpid waters of the Niagara. 
General Brown had previously received a severo 
wound from a musket ball which passed through 
his right thigh, and as he now moved to the lef* 
of the American line, to encourage the volunteen 
to remain firm, he was struck violently upon hia 
left side by a missile of some description. The 
blow nearly unhorsed him, and on meeting Colo- 
nel "Wood, he expressed his doubts as to liis abil- 
ity to keep the saddle. "Never mind, my dear 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 393 

general," was the reply, " you are gaining the 
greatest victory that was ever gained by your na- 
tion I " Cheered by these words, which indicated 
the spirit prevailing among his officers and men,- 
General Brown remained on his horse, giving his 
orders with wonted firmness and promptitude. The 
American troops were sorely pressed, but they were 
more than a match for their opponents. In vain 
was every efl^brt of the latter. The artillery on 
both sides was taken and retaken during the strug- 
gle, but the British were finally forced to yield the 
ground, leaving their guns in the hands of the 
Americans. 

At midnight the contest terminated. The British 
made no further efibrt to regain the position, but 
shrunk silently away in the darkness. Faint from 
excessive pain and loss of blood, General Brown 
was now assisted from the field by his stafl'. Gen 
eral Scott being -also disabled, the command was 
assumed by General Bipley, under whose directions 
the wounded were collected, and orders were then 
issued for a return to camp. The artillery horses 
being all killed, and there being no drag-ropes at 
hand, General Kipley very reluctantly left the 
captured guns on the ground, having rolled the 



394 DAEING DEEDS 

smaller pieces down tlie hill. This circumstance 
was seized with avidity by the British officers to 
give color to their claim that they had defeated 
the American army, and it has frequently served 
a similar purpose in the works of British writers. 
A few considerations will show how utterly un- 
founded was this claim. The Americans attacked 
their opponents in a position of their own selection. 
This position they seized, and held against, three 
daring and desperate efforts to regain it. It was 
yielded, but yielded voluntarily; and being without 
the means to remove the guns. General Eipley left 
tliem on the field, and returned to the American 
camp unmolested. The enemy remained nearer 
the battle-ground, as their tents and baggage were 
directly in rear of their line ; and when they dis- 
covered, on the following morning, that the guns 
had been abandoned, they took possession of them 
without difficulty, there being no one to 02)po8e 
them. 



SOKTIE OF FOET EEIE. 

On the 3d of August, 1814, General Drummoncl 
invested Fort Erie. The infantry of the besieging 
force was divided into three brigades, each contain- 
ing 1200 or 1500 men, one of which was stationed 
alternately in the works in front of the fort, for 
the protection of the artillerists, and the other two 
occupied the main camp about two miles in the 
rear. The circumvallation consisted of two lines of 
intrenchments supported by block-houses, in advance 
of which the enemy had constructed their batteries. 
It was General Brown's intention " to storm the 
batteries, destroy the cannon, and roughly handle 
the brigade on duty, before those in reserve could 
be brought up." The project was well conceived 
and admirably executed. 

At noon, on the 17th of September, the troops 
iu tended to make the sortie were paraded uuder 
arms. The sallying force was divided into two col- 
amns ; the left, commanded by General Porter, and 



396 DARING DEEDS 

Colonel Gibson, the Pennsylvania volunteers under 
Colonel "Woods, the New York volunteers under 
General Davis, and the 1st and 23d infantry under 
Major Brooks, were ordered to move cautiously 
upon the enemy's right, by a circuitous road previ- 
ously opened through the woods ; and the right, 
commanded by General Miller, and consisting of 
the first brigade, was directed to enter a ravine 
between the fort and the British lines, and ad- 
vance rapidly upon the enemy's works as soon as 
General Porter became engaged. General Ripley 
remained in reserve with the 21st infantry, between 
the new bastions of the fort; his command, and 
that of General Miller, being both out of view of 
the enemy. 

The day was dark and lowering. A thick mist 
rested upon the lake and river, and floated lazily 
along their banks. The clouds overhead were sur- 
charged with moisture, and sent down copious show- 
ers of rain. Favored by those circumstances, the 
American columns gained their position unper- 
ceived. General Porter advanced with such ce- 
lerity and caution, that his men sprang upon the 
enemy's pickets before they were aware of his 
presence. As soon as the rapid volleys of General 



OF A M E R r C A N" HEROES. 397 

Porter were lieard, Genearl Erown ordered General 
Miller to advance, the head of his column being 
directed toward the interval between batteries 2 
and 3. Dashing forward at full speed, General 
Miller reached the enemy's line and pierced their 
intrenchments. The British were taken by surjjrise, 
yet they fought bravely and well. The contest was 
close and animated, but brief. Within thirty min- 
utes after the first gun was fired, batteries 2 and 
3 were in possession of the American troops, who 
swept every thing before them with the bayonet. 
Battery number 1 was then abandoned by the 
enemy, and the Americans, without loss of time, 
commenced the work of demolition. The British 
guns were spiked or otherwise destroyed, their 
breast-works leveled, and the magazine of battery 
number 3 was blown up. 

General Kipley had now brought up the reserve, 
and was making preparations for a demonstration 
on the enemy's camp, when he was disabled by a 
severe wound. The object of the sortie having been 
accomplished, in the destruction, by a force of regu- 
lars and volunteers, only 2000 strong, of the labors 
of 4000 men for a period of near fifty days. Gen- 
eral Miller ordered his men to fall back to the 



39S DARING DEEDS 

ravine, and General Brown then directed all the 
corps to return to camp with their prisoners, which 
was done in good order. In this affair the Ameri- 
cans had eighty-three men killed, 216 wounded, 
and there were 216 missing. Three hundred and 
eightj-five of the enemy w^ere taken prisoners, 
and there were between 400 and 500 killed and 
wounded. 

This daring sortie put an end to the leaguer. 
During the night of the 21st of September, General 
Drummond broke up his camp, and retreated to 
his intrenchments behind the Chippewa. 



ASSAULT OK FOET EEIE. 

The preparations of General Drummond for the 
assault were completed soon after nightfall on the 
14:th of August, 1814. It was arranged that the 
projected assault should be made early on the fol- 
lowing morning, in three columns, — that on the 
right designed to attack the left of the American 
works, consisting of 1300 men, being placed under 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 399 

the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Fischer ; that 
on the left, of about the same number, under Colo- 
nel Scott, and the central column, composed of 800 
select troops, under Lieutenant-Colonel Drummond. 

It had been rainy throughout the dav, and the 
rolling thunders of the tempest mingled with the 
loud roar of cannon, and the noise of exploding 
bombs. "When the night set in, the rain continued 
to fall ; heavy masses of clouds swept athwart the 
sky, curtaining the scene with a dark and gloomy 
pall ; and the fires of the enemy's camp could 
scarcely be discerned, glimmering feebly through 
the obscure haze. The breast-works of Fort Erie 
sheltered many an anxious bosom, but the iiie of 
a noble courage, that knew not how to falter, 
sparkled in every eye, and beamed on every 
countenance. 

Midnight came, — and yet there were no indica- 
tions of an attack. Another, and another hour 
passed by in silence. Ere the next half hour was 
told, a low, faint sound was heard, like the rustling 
of the wind among the leaves of the forest. It ap- 
proached nearer and nearer, — and the eager lis- 
teners soon caught the measured tread of the 
approaching columns, enveloped in thick darkness, 



400 DAEING DEEDS 

but luirrying onward with rapidity to the assault. 
The column led by Lieutenant-Colonel Fischer w^as 
the first to reach the works. The enemy advanced 
steadily and quickly, — one portion approaching 
the battery at the southwestern angle, with scaling 
ladders ; and the other advancing against the line 
between it and the lake, with the design of ter- 
minating the contest, in an instant, by the decisive 
shock of the bayonet. They were allowed to ap- 
proach within good range, when the American 
musketry and artillery opened suddenly upon them. 

The effect was terrific. The enemy were mowed 
down in platoons, and scores were swept away at 
every discharge. They hesitated for a moment, — 
another blast burst from the American batteries, — 
and they recoiled in terror and alarm. They were 
soon rallied however, and again led to the attack; 
but they were again repulsed with fearful slaughter. 

On the other flank the enemy were equally un- 
successful. The column under Colonel Scott became 
entangled in the rocks near the river, on the right \ 
of the intrenched camp, and were delayed for a 
short time ; but when they discovered their error, 
and regained their line of march, they pushed on 
more rapidly than before. The sleepless vigilance 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 401 

of tlie besieged could not be taken by surprise. 
The assailiDsr column were heard distinctly behind 
the ramparts as they approached, and when within 
fifty yards of the American lines, they encountered 
an appalling fire that forced them to halt. To ad- 
vance further Vv^as impossible. The batteries before 
them presented a constant blaze of fire, and the 
air was full of bursting balls and missiles. In the 
mean time, the central column, commanded by 
Lieutenant-Colonel Drummond, had advanced boldly 
against the fort in front. A rapid and well-directed 
fire was turned upon them by Captain Williams, 
but, unappalled by the carnage, they succeeded in 
applying their ladders to the walls of the salient 
bastion. 

Their commander and a number of his ofiiccrs 
were cut down ; their loss was dreadfully severe ; 
they v,'ere unable to continue the advance, and a re- 
treat was ordered. They commenced retiring slowly, 
but the movement terminated in a disorderly flight. 

Drummond's column, however, had achieved a 
slight advantage, yet it was brief as it was unim- 
portant. The first attempt to cany the bastion en- 
tirely failed : a second, and a tliird efibrt v/as made, 

with similar results. But the British commander 

19 2S 



402 D A R T N G T) E K D S 

lacked not in brutal courage, though sadlj deilcient 
in the more ennobling qualities of the gallant 
soldier. Under cover of the intense darkness, just 
before the break of day, he led a portion of his 
men silently along the ditch, applied his ladders at 
a point where he was not expected, and mounted 
the parapet. "With a daring intrepidity worthy of 
a better cause, he led his men forward to the 
charge, shrieking out in the tones of baffled rage 
and hate — "E'o quarter! — give the Yankees no 
quarter ! " This dastard order was faithfully obeyed. 
A fierce and maddening contest took place for 
the possession of the bastion. Major Hindman 
and his artillerists, with their supporting force, 
bravely stood their ground. Their efforts proved 
unavailing. Captain Williams, and a number of 
the men, were killed or mortally wounded, and his 
lieutenants, Watmough and Macdonough, were also 
severely wounded. The latter disdained to yield 
till he was completely disabled, and then asked 
for quarter. This was refused, — when, rallying 
his remaining strength, he snatched a handspike, 
and, with the madness of despairing humanity, 
strove to beat off his assailants. As he held them 
at bay, the infuriated Drummond rushed forward, 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 403 

and shot him down with his own hand. But this 
coward act received a fearful retribution. The next 
instant an avenging bullet found its w^ay to the 
heart of the British leader, and he fell beside his 
victim. 

Notwithstanding the fall of their commander, the 
men who had effected a lodgment in the bastion 
successfully resisted every attempt to dislodge them 
till daylight. General Gaines then ordered up larger 
reinforcements, and the enemy began speedily to 
fall back. They were now at the mercy of the 
American soldiers, who had not forgotten the sav- 
age cry which had been the death-knell of many 
a brave spirit. Expecting no favor, as none was 
merited, they had commenced tumbling pell-mell 
over the parapet into the ditch, when a strong 
reserve was descried rapidly coming up under 
Lieutenant-Colonel Tucker. An enfilading fire from 
Captain Douglass' battery upon the approaching 
column, and a few rapid and efiective discharges 
from the guns of Captains Biddle and Fanning, 
checked their advance. Between 300 and 400 of 
the enemy advanced to within a short distance of 
the bastion ; but, at this moment, and while the 
Americans, under the orders of General Gaines, 



404 DARING DEEDS 

were preparing for a vigorous rush upon the rem - 
nant of Drummond's column, an explosion took 
place carrying away the whole platform. The loss 
of the enemy by the explosion was small in com- 
parison with what they had previously sustained, 
but it served to add to their confusion, and to in- 
crease their anxiety to escape beyond the reach of 
the American guns. ISTo effort was made to pursue 
the assault further, and a general retreat of the 
enemy now took place, as tumultuous and disorderly, 
as their advance had been brave and imj^osing. 



BATTLE OF PLATTSBITKG. 

From the evening of the 6th of September, 1814, 
till the morning of the 11th, Sir George Prevost 
was zealously engaged in planting his batteries, 
before Plattsburg, both open and masked, and 
bringing up his heavy artillery. During all this 
time he refrained from offensive operations, though 
there were constant skirmishes between advanced 
corps of the two armies, at the bridges and fords. 



OF AMEKICAN HEROES. 405 

The reason alledged for the delay on his part, was 
the want of his battering train, that came up very 
slowly ; but the absence of the fleet under Captain 
Downie, which had not yet arrived, — and without 
which, as appeared in the sequel, he dared not 
make an attempt on the American position, — was, 
probably, the main consideration that influenced 
him. 

In the mean time, a lively and effective cannon- 
ade was directed upon the enemy's lines from the 
American forts, — the sullen thunder of their artil- 
lery echoing for many a mile through the sweeping 
forests whose rich foliage enameled the borders of 
Lake Champlain. The repeated assaults of the 
enemy at the different crossings of the river were 
repelled with ease and alacrity; and on one occa- 
sion, Captain M'Glassin, of the 15th infantry, gal- 
lantly crossed the river in the night, with fifty 
men ; attacked a working party 150 strong, con- 
structing a battery opposite Fort Brown ; defeated 
both them and their support, also 150 in number, 
killing seven of the enemy ; and completely demol- 
ished the work. The regular troops, besides per- 
forming regular tours of duty at the bridge and 
fords, labored incessantly, in strengthening the 
fortifications. 



406 DARING DEEDS 

On tlie night of the 10th of September, General 
Macomb was apprised of the intention of the 
enemy to make an attack the next day ; and, by 
his orders, the roads and passes leading to the 
south of his position, as he suspected they designed 
to turn it, were covered with felled trees, and 
strewed with leaves, so as to deceive them, and a 
new road was opened leading toward Salmon river. 

At the earliest dawn of day, before the welkin 
began to glow with the purple light of morning, a 
general movement was reported, by the advanced 
parties, to be making in the enemy's camp ; and 
when objects could be distinguished from the main 
line, all their different corps were observed under 
arms. Shortly afterward, the British fleet rounded 
Cumberland head. 

Sir George Prevost only waited to give his men 
their breakfast, when the attack was ordered on 
the land. Showers of bombs, shrapnels, balls, and 
rockets, were hurled across the river; and immedi- 
ately after the bombardment commenced, the enemy 
advanced to force a passage across the stream, and 
assault the American works, in three columns — 
one approaching the bridge in the village, another 
the upper bridge, and the third a ford about three 



OF AMEKICAX IIEKOES. 407 

niilcs above the forts — all of which were provided 
with scaling ladders. The attack was vigorously 
met by the American artillerists ; fire answered 
fire ; and the ringing shot and shout resounded far 
and wide. 

The two columns of the enemy which attempted 
to pass the bridges, were gallantly driven back by 
the regulars ; the remaining column was led astray 
in the woods — the artifices of the American com- 
mander being entirely successful — and after spend- 
ino^ a lonsr time in marchinor and countermarchina: 
to no purpose, wearied and worn with fatigue, they 
arrived in sight of the American works, only ta 
hear the glad shouts of victory at the brilliant 
success of the brave Macdonough. A further ad- 
vance was no longer to be thought of; the recall 
was sounded ; the scaling ladders were thrown 
down, and a hasty retreat was made. The volun- 
teers and militia stationed in this quarter, pressed 
warmly upon them, and succeeded in cutting off 
an entire company of the T6th foot, not a single 
man of whom escaped. Tlie cannonade was kept 
up till sunset, when the enemy's batteries were all 
silenced by the effective fire fi'om the American 
forts. 



BATTLE OF LAKE CIIAMPLAm. 

The assaults on Plattsburgli and on the American 
fleet by the British were simultaneously made by 
land and water, on the 11th of September. At eight 
o'clock in the morning, the British fleet was seen 
approaching ; and, in an hour, the action became 
general. It is thus described by Macdonough, in 
his official letter : 

"At nine," he says, "the enemy anchored in a 
line ahead, at about 300 yards distant from my line ; 
his ship opposed to the Saratoga; his brig to the 
Eagle, Captain Robert Henley ; his galleys — thir- 
teen in number — to the schooner, sloop and a di- 
vision of our galleys ; one of his sloops assisting 
their ship and brig; the other assisting their gal- 
leys ; our remaining galleys were with the Saratoga 
and Eagle. 

" In this situation, the whole force on both sides 
became engaged ; the Saratoga suffering much from 
the heavy fire of the Confiance. I could perceive, 
at the same time, liowever, that our fire was very 



OF AMERICAN HEKOES. 409 

destructive to her. The Ticonderoga, Lieutenant 
commandant Cassin, gallantly sustained hcu" full 
share of the action. At half past ten, the Eagle, 
not being able to bring her guns to bear, cut her 
cable, and anchored in a more eligible position, 
between my ship and the Ticonderoga, where she 
very much annoyed the enemy, but, unfortunately, 
leaving me much exj)osed to a galling fire from 
the enemy's brig. 

" Our guns on the starboard side being nearly 
all dismounted or unmanageable, a stern anchor 
was let go, the bower cable cut, and the ship 
winded, with a fresh broadside on the enemy's ship, 
which soon after surrendered. Our broadside was 
then sprung to bear on the sloop, which sur- 
rendered about fifteen minutes afterward. The 
sloop which was opposed to the Eagle, had struck 
some time before, and drifted down the line. Tlie 
sloop that was with their galleys had also struck. 
Our galleys were about obeying with alacrity the 
signal to follow them, when all the vessels were 
reported to me to be in a sinking state. It then 
became necessary to annul the signal to the galleys, 
and order their men to the pumps. I could only 

look at the enemy's gallevs going off in a shattered 
19* 



410 DARING DEEDS 

condition, for there was not a mast in either squad 
ron that could stand to make sail on. The lower 
rigging being nearly shot away, hung down as 
though it had just been placed over the mast-heads. 
" The Saratoga had fifty-five round shot in her 
hull ; the Contiance, 105. The enemy's shot passed 
principally over our heads, as there were not twenty 
whole hammocks in the nettings, at the close of 
the action, which lasted without intermission two 
hours and twenty minutes. 



DEFENSE OF BALTIMOKE. 

The success of General Eoss at Washington in 
duced him to undertake the capture of Baltimore. 
He boasted that he would make the city his winter- 
quarters, and with the force which he commanded 
he could march where he pleased in Maryland. 

The Americans were not unprepared for an at- 
tack in this quarter. A force of militia from Mary- 
land and the neighboring states, together with the 
regular troops who had recentlj^ been engaged at 



OF AMERICAN II E E. L 3 . 411 

Washington, amounting in all to 15000 men, bad 
been assembled for the defense of the city. The 
command of these troops was given to General 
Smith, of the Maryland militia, assisted by General 
Winder. 

On the 11th of September, a British squadron of 
fifty sail, with 6000 men, entered the mouth of the 
Pataj^sco, and on the morning of the 12th com- 
menced landing at JSTorth Point, fourteen miles 
below the city. General Strieker was detached 
with 3500 militia to oppose their advance. Gei;- 
eral Poss, having preceded the main body of h:.-> 
army with a small reconnoitering party, was f-liot 
through the breast by a rifleman, fell into the arm- 
of his aid-de-camp, and died in a few minute^. 
The command devolved on Colonel Lrook, who led 
on the attack, which was commenced by a dis- 
charge of rockets from the British, and was suc- 
ceeded b}^ gi'''^pe, canister, and small arms on both* 
sides. After maintaining his position for an hour 
and a half against a great superiority of numbers, 
General Strieker was at length obliged to retire to 
Worthington Mills, half a mile in advance of the 
main bodj'. 

On the niglit of the 12th, the British bivouacked 



412 DARING DEEDS 

in advance of tLe battle ground, and on the 13th 
commenced their march toward the citj. When 
within two miles of the American lines they halted 
to await the result of the attack on Fort McHenry. 
This fortress defends the narrow passage from the 
Patapsco into Baltimore harbor, two miles below 
the city, and its command had been intrusted to 
Major Armistead, with 100 men. Fort Covington, 
on the right of Fort McHenry, was commanded by 
Lieutenant Newcomb. On the 12th, a British 
squadron of sixteen ships drew up in line of battle 
w^ithin two miles and a half of the forts, and at 
sunrise on the 13th, commenced an attack on them 
with bombs and rockets. Twelve hundred men 
were detached to storm the works on the succeed- 
ing night, and the battle raged with great fury till 
the morning of the 14th, when the assailants, being 
completely foiled, were compelled to retire, and the 
,8C[uadron sailed down the river. Their example 
was speedily followed by the army, who had san- 
guinely anticipated the capture and plunder of 
Baltimore. 



I 




BATTLE OF KEW ORLEANS. 

Positiv^e intelligence was received in New Or 
leans, on the 9tli of December, 1814, that the 
Britisli fleet had been descried standing off the 
Chandeleur islands ; and Lieutenant Thomas Ap 
Catesby Jones was immediately dispatched by Com 
niodore Patterson, with a flotilla of five gun-boats, 
and 182 men, to watch the motions of the enemy. 
On tie 12th instant, they were discovered in such 
force, off Cat Island, at the eastern extremity of 
Lake Borgne, that Lieutenant Jones judged it safer 
to retire up the lake and guard the j^asses leading 
toward the city. 

All the arrangements of General Jackson for the 
defense of New Orleans were made with consum- 
mate skill. The batteries commanding the passes 
from Lake Borgne into Lake Pontchartrain were 
well manned ; the colored battalion, ' under Major 
Lacoste, with the Feliciana dragoons, were ordered 
to take ])ost on the Chef Mentcur, to cover the 



414 DARINa DEEDS 

Gentilly road ; Major Plauclie's battalion, witli 
Lieutenant Wagner's company of light artillery, 
were stationed at fort St. John, on the bayou of 
that name ; the Tennessee cavalry and infantry, un- 
der Generals Coifee and Carroll, remained about four 
miles above the city ; tbe regular troops, and the 
remainder of tlie state militia, occupied the city, 
and the fortifications on the river below ; and the 
schooner Caroline and brig Louisiana were moored 
in the stream. 

On the 22d of December General Keane, w^hose 
■whole command about 4500 in number, with their 
heavy cannon and stores, proceeded, in their small 
boats, up the bayou, and, at four o'clock xn the 
morning of the 23d, arrived opposite the opening 
of Yillere's canal, wdiich connected with the Missis- 
sippi. They halted at this point for a few hours, 
and then continued up the canal. Early in the 
afternoon of the same day, they gained the bank 
of the river unmolested, and established themselves 
on the plantation of General Yillere, Colonel La 
Honde, and Major Lacoste, about eight miles below 
the city. 

General Jackson did not w^ait to be attacked. 
Within an hour after receiving the information that 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 415 

tlie enemy Lad effected a landing, he put his troops 
in motion. Anticipating that the city might be 
simnltaneonsly threatened by way of the Chef 
Menteur, General Carroll was left posted on the 
Gentilly road, with his command and the city mi- 
litia ; and the remainder of tlie troops, mider Gen- 
eral Jackson in person, consisting of General 
Cuilee's brigade, Major Hind's dragoons, a detach- 
ment of artillery and marines, under Colonel Mc- 
liea, parts of the 7th and 44th infantry, the bat- 
talions of Majors Plauche and Daquin, and two 
six-pounder guns in charge of Lieutenant Spotts, 
moved down the left bank of the river, to attack 
the enemy who had landed below. The schooner 
Caroline, Captain Henley, with Commodore Patter- 
son on board, and the brig Louisiana, Lieutenant 
Thompson, also dropped down the river. It was 
understood that the signal of attack would be the 
fire of the Caroline, when she had arrived opposite 
the position of the British troops. 

At six o'clock in the evening of the 23d, the 
different corps composing the main column, in all 
not far from 200O men, effected a junction at the 
canal Rodriguez, within sight of the watch fires of 

the enemv, which were discovered srleamins^ dimly 

29 



416 DARING DEEDS 

ill the distance. The night was prematurely dark 
owing to the dense fog rising from the river. This 
circmiustance, however, favored the movement, as it 
was thereby concealed from the enemy ; and the 
very best spirit pervaded the whole command. The 
troops w^ere now formed for the attack ; — the artil- 
lery and marines, and the regular infantry, on the 
riglit ; the battalions of Plauche and Daquin, both 
under Colonel Iloss, in the center; and the brigade 
of General Cofl^je, dismounted, on the left. Gen- 
eral Coffee was directed to turn the enemy's right, 
and attack them in the rear ; while the rest of the 
column advanced against them in front. 

At half-past seven o'clock, the long looked-for sig- 
nal was given by the Caroline. The first intimation 
received by the enemy, of the approach of the Ameri- 
cans, was the raking broadside of the schooner, whicli 
completely swept their encampment. Before they 
had fairly recovered from their astonishment. Gen- 
eral Jackson fell npon them like a thunderbolt. 

Though taken by surprise. General Keane ordered 
his fires to be extinguished, and finally succeeded 
in forming his men to beat off the attack. Eefoi'e 
oi'der was entirely restored. General Coffee had 
forced his way into tlic enemy's camp, and Gen- 



OF AMKKICAN HEKOES. 417 

eral Jackson was moving upon them in front with 
equal daring and impetuosity. 

J^otwithstanding the intense darkness, the Ameri- 
can soldiers were kept to their duty, and displayed 
the most praiseworthy gallantry. The enemy were 
driven from their position, and several snccessive 
charges were made, with great success. At length, 
it was discovered that the troops were falling into 
confusion, on account of the thick mist which 
shrouded every thing around, and General Jackson 
thoui>;ht it best to call off his men. Durino; the 
remainder of the night they lay on the field of 
battle, and in the morning fell back to the canal 
Rodriguez, about two miles nearer the city, where 
the swamp and the Mississippi approached within 
a few hundred yards of each other. 

It was at first designed by the British com- 
mander, to commence regular approaches against 
the formidable line of intrenchments occupied by 
the American .troops. On the 28th of December, 
a brisk cannonade was opened from a battery 
planted near the levee, within half a mile of the 
river. Sliowers of Congreve rockets were also 
thrown, whicli, although a new implement of war- 
fare, failed to excite eitlicr fear or astonishment in 



41S DA KING DEEDS 

the opposing ranks. The firing was kept up for 
several hours without producing any sensible effect; 
and the attack was then relinquished. During the 
night of the 31st, heavy batteries were constructed 
on the plain, directly in front of the American 
position ; and the advent of the new year was 
welcomed by a tremendous burst of artillery, ac- 
companied by incessant flights of rockets, which was 
continued till three o'clock in the afternoon, when 
the batteries were effectually silenced by the Ameri- 
can guns. The casualties on these *two occasions 
were, — on the side of the Americans, eighteen 
killed and thirty-one wounded ; and, on the side 
of tlie enemy, forty-eight killed, and eighty-two 
wounded. 

These repeated efforts having jDroved of no avail, 
General Packenham decided to carry the works by 
a coup de tnain. For a number of days all his men 
were employed in deepening Yillere's canal, for the 
passage of the boats, by which a detachment could 
be thrown across the river to attack the fortifications 
on the right bank. On the 6th instant. General 
Lambert joined the main body of the enemy, 
already on shore, with his division; and the whole 
command was thus increased to upward of 12000 



O F A ?vl K IM C A N II K R O E 3 . 419 

men. Every thing being in readiness fur Vaq con- 
templated assault, on the evening of the 7th instant, 
it was directed to take place at dav^-n of day on 
the following morning. 

On the 4th of January, the anxiously-expected 
reinforcements from Kentucky, under Generals 
Thomas and Adair, 2500 strong, reached Isew 
Orleans. They w^ere' poorly furnished with arms, 
howeyer, and, like most of the other troops, were 
nearly destitute of clothing. The city was ran- 
sacked in search of weapons, but a scanty supply 
could be obtained; and- the other deficiency was 
partially remedied, by the patriotic exertions of Mr. 
Girod, the mayor, and the ladies of Isew Orleans. 

General Jackson now made a final disposition 
of his troops. Goyernor Claiborne w^as posted on 
the Gentilly road, with a portion of the Louisiana 
militia; another portion, under General Morgan, 
was stationed on the right bank of the river, and 
the battery on that shore was manned by the sailors 
and marines under Commodore Patterson. General 
Morgan w^as further reinforced, on the night of the 
7th of January, when it was ascertained that the 
"enemy were opening a passage into the riyer, by a 
detachment of the Kentucky troops. On the leit. 



4."^ DARIN a DEEDS 

harakj .General Jackson was posted with his main 
coliim.i, consisting of abont 3500 men. There were 
eight distinct batteries along the line, mounting, 
in all, twelve guns and two howitzers. On the 
right, were the Yth and 44th infantry, between 
which were the battalions of Majors Plauche, La- 
coste, and Daquin ; in the center was General 
Carroll's command, supported by that of General 
Adair ; and, on the extreme left, were the Tennessee 
rifles under General Coffee. The remainder of the 
Kentucky troops, under General Thomas, remained 
in the rear. 

The brave troops whom General Jackson had 
gathered around him, calmly awaited the approach 
of the enemy, behind the breast-work of cotton bags 
which their sagacious commander had provided, 
not as a shelter for cowardice, but as a protection 
against the onset of a superior force. Night after 
night they slept upon their arms ; the soldiers of 
Coifee lying far out in the swamp, on heaps of logs 
and brush, half benumbed with the cold, and cov- 
ered w^ith the moist ooze of the morass ; yet all 
indifferent to the inclemency of the weather, to 
hardship and suffering. 

Tlie wintry dawn was just breaking, and the cold 



(> F A :>.[ K R I C A N H K li (> E S . 42 1 

silvery sheen of tlic early morning was rapidly 
spreading over the plains of Chalmette, on the 
memorable 8th of January, 1815, when the dark 
masses of the British assaulting columns were dis- 
cerned from the American lines, as they emerged 
from the thick vail of mist which intercepted the 
view of their encampment, and rapidly pressed 
forward to the storm. At the same time, their 
batteries, planted on the previous night, within 800 
yards of the intrenchments, commenced an active 
fire, which soon deepened into a continuous roar, 
that shook the whole valley, and started the in- 
habitants of the city from their slumbers. 

Simultaneously with the movement on the left 
bank of the river. Colonel Thornton crossed the 
stream with 500 picked men, ascended the levee, 
and, by a sudden charge, turned the position, and 
made himself master of the battery, which formed 
the strong point of the line. General Morgan was 
at the head of a much superior force, but finding 
himself unable to maintain his ground, he fell back 
toward the city, followed slowly by the British 
troops. 

Upon the other shore, the most des23erate and 
unfiinchiug valor failed to achieve the least sub- 



422 DARING DEEDS 

stantial success. The main attack, on this bank 
of the river, was made in two columns, sixty or 
seventy deep ; that on the right, between 8000 and 
9000 strong, led by General Gibbs, moving upon 
the center of Jackson's position ; and the left, about 
1200 in number. General Keane, advancing along 
the levee road. The British troops moved forward 
slowly and steadily, many of them carrying scaling 
ladders and fascines. 

Tliree hearty cheers rose from the American lines 
when the enemy came within range. Every piece 
was instantly put in requisition. A well-sustained 
rolling fire welcomed the assailants as they a]> 
proached. Still, the regularity of their array was 
unbroken. Torrents of grajje and round shot, hiss- 
ing hot, swept through the solid columns, rending 
them asunder like ro]3es of sand. Yet they pressed 
on undaunted, through the driving storm of missiles 
poured upon them from the different batteries, 
whose converging fires smote them more and more 
heavily at every step of their advance, and strewed 
the plain with the dying and the dead. 

Meantime the American infantry and rifieraei) 
liad remained at their posts, with their hands 
clenched about the locks of their pieces, attentively 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 42?t 

watching the movements of the enemy. Generiil 
Jackson himself occasionally rode along the lines, 
to cheer and animate his men. It was, indeed, a 
critical period for his own fame, for the martial 
reputation of his country. His chivalric courage, 
his proud and lofty self-reliance, rose with the 
emergency. His eagle eye blazed with an almost 
unearthly light, and the shrill notes of his trumpet 
voice rang high above the roar of battle. 

Making their way through the heaps of their 
comrades, who lay weltering in their gore, pale, 
distorted, and stiffening in death, the British sol- 
diers advanced within reach of the American rifle 
and musket. In an instant, a vivid stream of lire 
rolled down from the whole line of intrenchments. 
The way was now blocked by a glistening wall of 
flame. The bravest shrank back aghast. Stout- 
hearted men, who had never faltered amid the sea 
of carnage whose crimson waves dyed the ramparts 
of Badajoz, trembled like the aspen. The American 
fire was never for a moment interrupted, — the 
western riflemen making their mark at every dis- 
charge, and the men in the rear constantly loading 
and exchanging pieces with their companions in 

front. At the head of the glacis, the right column 
20 



424 DARING DEEDS 

of tlie assailants stac^o^erecl and halted. Generals 
Packenham and Gibbs dashed forward, eager to 
retrieve the fortunes of the day ere all was lost. 

In vain was every eifort to turn the tide of 
battle. Both officers fell mortally wounded, while 
hundreds were swept down around them, as the 
grass before the mower. Some few pressed on, — 
on and on, — to sure destruction! 

On the left, the advances of General Keane's 
column, led by Colonel Rennie, gained the redoubt 
in front of the line, of intrenchments ; but it was 
only to find a soldier's grave. A murderous fire was 
at once directed upon them from the main fortifica- 
tion, and every man who had entered the work, in- 
cluding the gallant officer who headed the attack, 
was cut down. General Keane made an ineffectual 
effort to rally the troops for another onset, and was 
borne from the field severely wounded. The com- 
mand now devolved on General Lambert, w^lio 
promptly led up the reserve; but on discovering 
the dreadful havoc which had been made in the 
shattered and terrified column before him, he gave 
the sisinal to retire. 

At mid-day the battle was ended ; the bright sun 
looked down on that red waste, everywhere marred 



OFAMERTCAN HEROES. 425 

by the ploughing shot, and dotted all over with 
huge piles of festering corruption ; and the cool 
breeze that murmured amonsj the acacia and orange 
groves, was loaded with scents of slaughter, with 
the steam of the battle-field. The appalling fire 
from the American lines was most terrible in its 
efi'ects. The British lost 293 killed, 1267 wounded, 
and there were 484 taken prisoners. The Ameri- 
can loss was trifling in comparison; there were 
but thirteen killed, thirty-nine wounded, and nine- 
teen missing, on both sides of the river, during the 
day. 



COLONEL CLINCH AND THE INDIANS. 

As soon as the war of 1812 was ended, the In- 
dians in Florida, instigated by Edward Nichols 
and James "Woodbine, formerly officers in the Brit 
ish service, again took up the hatchet against theii 
white neighbors. These two men, in order the 
more completely to effect their purpose, established 
a fort on the Apalachicola river, to which they 



426 DARING DEEDS 

encouraged the disaffected Indians and runaway 
negroes to flee as to a place of safety. At this 
place, naturally strong by its position, they mounted 
twelve pieces of artillery, and in July, 1816, their 
garrison amounted to 400 negroes and Indians, 
who were well supplied with provisions and all the 
munitions of war. 

To dislodge this band of outlaws, Colonel Clinch 
was dispatched with a small number of regulars 
and some Indians under the command of their chief, 
Mcintosh, and in the beginning of July he laid 
siege to the fort on the land side. Two schooners 
had been sent from "New Orleans to supply Clinch 
with provisions and munitions of war. Having ob- 
tained the permission of the Governor of Pensacola, 
these vessels proceeded up the Apalachicola, under 
the convoy of two gun-boats, each mounting one 
twelve-pounder, and carrying twenty-five men. 
Col. Clinch defamed this small force insufficient 
to attack the fort on the river side and accordingly 
cautioned the commander against any offensive op- 
erations. But, when near the fort, a watering party 
of seven men were attacked by an ambuscade of 
negroes ; five were killed, one escaped, and the 
other was taken prisoner, tortured, and murdered. 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 427 

The commander of the gun-boats immediately 
warped up sufficiently near to the fort, and com- 
menced a fire on it with hot shot, one of which 
entered the magazine and blew up the fort. By 
this accident the fort was completely destroyed ; 
270 of the enemy were killed, and most of the 
remainder wounded. An immense quantity of arms 
and munitions of war, designed for supplying the 
Indians and negroes with the means of annoying 
the frontier settlers, fell into the hands of the con- 
querors. 



BATTLE OF O KEE-CHO -BEE . 

General Taylor, then colonel, in his official dis- 
patch, after mentioning the preliminary arrange- 
ments, proceeds to describe the battle as follows. 
It took place on the 25th of December, 1837. 

" These arrangements being made, I moved under 
their guidance for the camp of the Mickasukies. 
Between two and three P. M., we reached a very 
dense cypress swamp, through which we were 



428 DARINGDEEDS 

compelled to pass, and in which our guide informed 
us we might be attacked. After making the neces- 
sary dispositions for battle, it was ascertained that 
there was no enemy to oppose us. The army 
crossed over and encamped for the night, it being 
late. During the passage of the rear, Captain 
Parks, who was in advance with a few friendly 
Indians, fell in with two of the enemy's spies be- 
tween two and three miles from our camp, one on 
horseback, the other on foot, and succeeded in cap- 
turing the latter. He was an active young warrior, 
armed with an excellent rifle, fifty balls in his 
pouch, and an adequate proportion of powder. This 
Indian confirmed the information which had been 
previously received from the other Indians, and, in 
addition, stated that a large body of Seminoles, 
headed by John Cohua, Co-a-coo-chee, and, no 
doubt. Alligator, with other chiefs, were encamped 
five or six miles from us, near the Mickasukies, 
with a cypress swamp and dense hammock between 
them and the latter. 

" The army moved forward at daylight tlie next 
morning, and after mptrching five or six miles, 
reached the camp of the Seminoles on the bor- 
der of another cypress swamp, which must have 



OF AMERICAN UEROES. 429 

contiiiued several liundrecl, and bore evident traces 
of having been abandoned in a great hnrrj, as the 
lires were still burning, and quantities of beef lying 
on the ground unconsumed. 

'* Here the troops were again disposed in order 
of battle, but v\^e found no enemy to oppose us ; 
and the command w^as crossed over about 11 A. M., 
when we entered a large prairie in our front, on 
which 200 or 300 head of cattle were grazing, and 
a number of Indian ponies. Here another young 
Indian warrior was captured, armed and equipped 
as the former. He pointed out a dense hammock 
on our right, about a mile distant, in which he 
said the hostiles were situated, and waiting to give 
us battle. 

" At this place the final disposition was made to 
attack them, which was in two lines, the volun- 
teers under Gentry, and Morgan's spies, to form the 
first line in extended order, who were instructed to 
enter the hammock, and in the event of being at- 
tacked and hard pressed, were to fall back in rear 
of the regular troops, out of reach of the enemy's 
fire. The second was composed of the 4:th and 6th 
infantry, who were instructed to sustain the volun- 
teers, the 1st infantry being held in reserve. 



430 DARING DEEDS 

" Moving on in the direction of the hammock, 
after proceeding about a quarter of a mile, we 
reached the swamp which separated us from the 
en em J, three-quarters of a mile in breadth, being 
totally impassable for horses, and nearly so for foot, 
covered with a thick growth of saw-grass, five feet 
high, and about knee deep in mud and water, 
which extended to the left as far as the eye could 
reach ; and to the right, to a part of the swamp and 
hammock w^e had just crossed through, ran a deep 
creek. At the edge of the swamp the men were 
dismounted, and the horses and baggage left under 
a suitable guard. Captain Allen was detached 
with two companies of mounted infantry to exam- 
ine the swamp and hammock to the right, and in 
case he should not find the enemy in that direction, 
Avas to return to the baggage, and in the event of 
his hearing a heavy firing, to join me immediately. 

" After making these arrangements, I crossed the 
swamp in the order stated. On reaching the bor- 
ders of the hammock, the volunteers and spies 
received a heavy fire from the enemy, which was 
returned by them for a short time, v/hen their gal- 
lant commander. Colonel Gentry, fell, mortally 
wounded. They mostly broke ; and instead of 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 431 

forming in rear of the regulars, as had been di- 
rected, they retired across the swamp to their 
baggage and horses ; nor could they again be 
brought into action as a body, although efforts 
were made repeatedly by my staff to induce them 
to do so. 

" The enemy, however, were promptly checked 
and driven back by the 4:th and 6th infantry, which 
in truth, might be said to be a moving battery. 
The weight of the enemy's fire was principally 
concentrated on five companies of the 6th infantry, 
which not only stood firm, but continued to advance 
until their gallant commander, Lieutenant-Colonel 
Thompson, and his adjutant. Lieutenant Center, 
were killed, and every officer, with one exception, 
as well as most of the non-commissioned officers, 
including the sergeant-major and four of the orderly 
sergeants, killed and wounded of those companies 
when that portion of the regiment retired to a 
short distance and were again formed, one of these 
companies having but four members left untouched. 

" Lieutenant-Colonel Foster, with six companies, 

amounting in all to 160 men, gained the hammock 

in good order, where he was joined by Captain 

Noel with the two remaining companies of the 6th 
20* 30 



432 DARING DEEDS 

infantry, and Captain Gentry's volunteers, with a 
few additional men, continued to drive the enemy 
for a considerable time, and by a change of front, 
separated his line and continued to drive him until 
he reached the great lake, Okee-cho-bee, which was 
in the rear of the enemy's position, and on which 
their encampment extended for more than a mile. 
As soon as I was informed that Captain Allen was 
advancing, I ordered the 1st infantry to move to 
the left, gain the enemy's right flank, and turn it, 
which order was executed in the promptest man- 
ner possible, and as soon as that regiment got in 
position, the enemy gave one fire and retreated, 
being pursued by the 1st, 4th, and 6th, and some 
of the volunteers who had joined them, until near 
night, and until those troops were nearly exhausted, 
and the enemy driven in all directions. 

"The action was a severe one, and continued 
from half past twelve until three, P. M., a part of 
the time very close and severe. We suffered much, 
having twenty-six killed, and 112 wounded, among 
whom are some of our most valuable officers. The 
hostiles probably suffered, all things considered, 
equally with ourselves, they having left ten dead 
on the ground, besides, doubtless, carrying off more, 
as is cnstomarv with them when i^iracticable. 



CHAPTER XII— 184G. 



BATTLE OF PALO ALTO. 

As soon as General Taylor was satisfied by the 
signal guns from Fort Brown, that it had been at 
tacked and was in danger, he made prompt pre- 
parations for opening his communication between 
it and Point Isabel, and for relieving its gallant 
defenders from their perilous situation. Accord- 
ingly, on the evening of the YtTi of May, he left 
Point Isabel with a force of about 2100 men, and 
a train of 250 wagons, loaded with provisions and 
military stores, determined to give the enemy bat- 
tle, however numerous he might be. That night 
his army encamj^ed about seven miles from Point 
Isabel, and resumed its march early in the morn 
ing of the 8th. About twelve o'clock, his advanced 
guard reported that the Mexican forces were drawn 
up in large numbei*s to dispute his progress. An- 
other report immediately followed, however, inform- 
ing him that they had withdrawn their advauce. 



434 DA KING DEEDS 

and were retreating toward Fort Brown. His wagon 
trains and trooj)S w^ere therefore again pnt in mo 
tion, and progressed until the country opened into 
a broad prairie, bounded by Palo Alto, a thick 
grove of dwarfish trees. On both the right and 
left of the American army were ponds of fresh 
water, and beyond them, chapparal. Upon this 
])rairie the enemy were again drawn uj^, prepared 
for battle. On the extreme right was drawn up a 
division of Mexican cavalry, with their long, sharp 
pointed lances glittering in the sun, and their 
pennants gayly waving in the breeze. IN'ext, were 
])Osted their artillery and their heavy bodies of in 
fantry, the whole forming a solid column of over a 
mile in length, with artillery, infantry, and cavalry, 
alternately arranged, and presenting a most formi 
dable appearance. 

The space between the two armies was now 
gradually lessening, and soon the details could be 
distinguished. The tall, rank grass of the prairie, 
deadened the heavy tramp of the cavalry, and the 
lumbering wheels of the artillery ; and the whole 
moved forward so silently that the rattling of their 
trappings could be heard singularly plain. A space 
of 700 yards only, intervened between the two 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 435 

armies, when the batteries on the right of the 
Mexican line opened, throwing their ball and grape 
over the heads of "the Americans, and announcing, 
in tones of thunder, that the contest had begun. 
In quick succession the whole of their artillery, 
from extreme right to left, poured forth volleys of 
ball, which made the earth tremble, and filled the 
air with clouds of dust and sulphurous smoke. The 
word was now given for the advancing columns to 
halt, and deploy into line. When this was done. 
Lieutenant Churchill's eighteen-pound ers boomed 
above the surrounding din, announcing, in full roll- 
ing echoes, that the Americans were " in the field." 
Major Kinggold's and Captain Duncan's commands 
were now ordered forward into the open prairie, 
and commenced their rapid discharges. A general 
cannonading now raged, unparalleled, it is believed, 
in any fight upon an open battle-field. Duncan's 
battery, from its conspicuousness and nearness to 
our line, had often the concentrated fire of the 
enemy upon it. For two hours, twenty or thirty 
pieces of artillery rent the air with their thunders ; 
the iron hail tearing up the prairie in deep furrows, 
and sending the dry dust in clouds in the air. 
There was but little precision in the enemy's firing. 



436 DARING DEEDS 

The missiles almost invariably passed over the 
American lines. Far different was it with our 
own ; at every discharge, the sudden opening that 
followed in the solid masses, marked the terrible 
course of death where the Mexican cavalry bit the 
dust. The infantry, cool spectators of the raging 
battle, marked with eagle eyes this havoc in the 
opposing ranks, and mingled their exulting shouts 
with the din, as they witnessed the prowess of 
their companions in arms. The terrible eighteen- 
pounders rose ever above the tumult, and seemed 
as if keeping time in solemn sdund, as at every 
discharge they sent their huge masses of crushing 
iron into the living wall at which they were di- 
rected. As the battle thickened, the infantry, 
now formed in our rear, grew impatient to partici- 
pate in the fight, and the Mexican cavalry, by 
suffering so severely by our artillery, prepared for 
the charge. The -maneuvering of the day now 
commenced — the time for cool courage, quick 
thought, and deeds of individual heroism had 
arrived. 

A regiment of Mexican lancers, commanded by 
General Torrejon, moved toward our right, as it 
was supposed to gain possession of our train. The 



OF AMEKICAN HEROES. 437 

Third and Fifth regiments of infantry, with a por- 
tion of Einggold's battery, under the command of 
Lieutenant Ridgeley were ordered to check this 
movement, and tm-n the left flank of the enemy. 
They, however, still keeping up an irregular fire, 
continued steadily to advance toward our right and 
front, so as to outflank our line, if possible. Upon 
their near approach, the Fifth was thrown into square 
with Captain "Walker and twenty mounted men on 
its right. Lieutenant Ridgeley having dashed fur- 
ward, unlimbered his battery, and commenced rapid 
discharges of grape and canister upon the enemy's 
artillery, causing it to retreat ; but the lancers, 1500 
strong, continued steadily to advance, in spite of 
all opposition, until the Fifth poured into them, 
from the head of the square, a fire so deadly, that 
the front of the cavalry recoiled ; great numbers 
fell dead, and those in the rear, without pressing for- 
ward on the bayonets ready to receive them, broke 
into confusion. A portion, however, re-formed, and 
kept bravely on, in the attempt to reach the train, 
when Colonel Twiggs ordered the Third infantry to 
the extreme right, to cut off their advance. AYiien 
the enemy saw this movement, they commenced a 
retreat in good order, marching apparently by 



438 DARING DEEDS 

squadrons, wlien Lieutenant Eidgelej, assisted by 
Lieutenant French, opened his batteries, scattering 
them in all directions. 

AVhile Lieutenant Ridgeley was engaged in di- 
recting this fire, his horse was shot from under 
him, and the same ball probably that caused the 
death of his steed, alarmed the horses at one of his 
caissons, which sprang madly forward in range of the 
gun. Lieutenant Ridgeley, regardless of personal 
danger, rushed forward between the two contending 
fires, seized the front horses by the head, and 
brought them into their places ; thus saving not only 
his horses, but the ammunition of his battery, 
During this time, Major Ringgold's battery was not 
idle ; but, supported by the Fourth infantry, kept 
up a galling and continuous fire. On the left, and 
in the advance, was Duncan's battery, which, sup- 
ported by the Eighth infantry and Captain Ker's 
squadron of dragoons, poured forth a terrible dis- 
charge. The dragoons, who, from their elevated 
position could witness its efiects, say that horses 
and riders were frequently blown into the air, and 
long openings were often visible that it made in 
the columns against which it was directed ; not- 
withstanding this, the enemy's line remained 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 4;-»f) 

iinsliaken. So rapid were these discharges, that the 
wirj grass of the prairie, that reached nearly up 
to the miizzle of the pieces, dried before the sheeted 
flame, and burst into a blaze ; the sulphurous smoke 
of the exploded cannon and the musket cartridges 
had already clouded the air, as if to vail the hor- 
rors of war from the clear blue sky above ; but, 
when this conflagration took place, the very heavens 
were at times darkened, and huge masses of smoke 
rolled across the plain, completely obscuring our 
lines from the enemy's view. 

After the battle had raged for two hours, the 
Mexican batteries began to slacken, and finally 
ceased altogether. They were unable longer to 
withstand the terrible and destructive fire of King- 
gold's, Churchill's, Duncan's and Ridgeley's guns, 
and began to fall back for the purpose of forming 
a new line of battle under cover of the smoke. 
Our eighteen-pounders were then moved forward 
until they occupied the position where the Mexican 
cavalry were posted at the beginning of the battle. 
The Americans also formed a new line, their right 
wing resting on these eighteen-pounderg. The two 
armies were now formed in parallel lines, but the 
Mexicans were better protected than in th^lr first 
osition, by the chapparal in their rear. 



440 DARING DEEDS 

Scarcely aif hour elapsed before the. action was 
resumed. It was commenced hj our artillery, 
which was evidently more destructive than ever. 
But the Mexicans withstood the shock with great 
firmness. Soon after the action was renewed, 
Captain May was ordered to attack their left. He 
cheerfully obeyed the order, but was unable to 
make much impression on the cavalry with his 
small force, and accordingly resumed his former 
position without again having an opportunity to 
share in the engagement. It was now nearly night, 
and the Mexicans resolved to make one last effort 
to shake the firmness of the American lines, and 
to silence the deadly fire of the eighteen-pounders 
and Ringgold's battery. Accordingly, they poured 
in upon them almost a literal tempest of balls. 
Captain Page fell, mortally wounded, a cannon 
ball having carried away the whole of his lower 
jaw, and the brave Major Ringgold had both legs 
nearly shot away by a ball which passed entirely 
through his horse. Sanguine expectations of his 
recovery were for a time entertained. But they 
were not to be realized, and on the evening of the 
11th he died at Point Isabel, mourned by the 
army as a loss to the service and the country, not 
easily to be repaired. 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 4:4:1 

The artillery battalion under Colonel Childs was 
now brought up to support the artillery on the 
right, when a fierce charge was made upon this 
part of the line bj a strong body of Mexican 
cavalry, which continued to advance in spite of a 
destructive fire from our artillery. The battalion was 
formed into a hollow square, and calmly awaited the 
attack ; but a severe discharge of canister, from 
the eighteen-23ounders, threw them into confusion, 
and finally dispersed them. A heavy fire of mus- 
ketry was -in the mean time opened upon the square, 
wounding Lieutenant Luther slightly, and killing 
and severely wounding several soldiers. Colonel 
Childs, however, poured in upon them a well-di- 
rected discharge from his guns, which efiectually 
silenced the enemy's left. But another effort was 
made by Arista to turn our flank, and get posses- 
sion of our stores in the rear. This movement was 
fortunately discovered by Captain Duncan, and he 
was immediately ordered to hold the enemy in 
check until the eighth infantry could come to his 
assistance. This he accomplished in most gallant 
style, opening uj^on them a deadly fire before they 
were aware of his vicinity. Every discharge was 
fearfully destructive, mowing down whole ranks of 



442 DAEING DEEDS 

the enemy. They could not long stand nnder this 
murderous fire, though they continued to advance 
with great firmness for a time. They were driven 
back in confusion, but immediately re-formed and 
again moved forward, and were again driven back 
in hopeless disorder, and commenced a precipitate 
retreat, throwing all into confusion who had yet 
stood firm. Thus they were driven from the field 
and compelled to take shelter in the chapparal. 
l^ight now put an end to the contest. Thus ended 
the battle of Palo Alto, after the action had con- 
tinued for nearly ^ye hours with almost uninter- 
rupted fury. "When it was ended, our soldiers sunk 
down wherever they chanced to be, wholly ex- 
hausted by the exertions and excitement of the 
day, and fell asleep with nothing but the sky above 
them and the earth beneath. The dragoons, how- 
ever, kept watch all night, fearing an attempt 
would be made to surprise them by the enemy.' 
Too much uncertainty hung over the future to allow 
the ofiicers any repose. All felt that the morrow 
would bring forth another day of battle, and ex- 
citement, and carnage, and that the Mexicans 
would make another mighty effort to crown it with 
victory to their arms. They held a council of war. 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 44P> 

however, and after calmlj considering tlie events 
of the day they liad just passed, and the probabil- 
ities of the approaching contest, they unanimously 
resolved to move on early the next morning and 
give the enemy battle again, if they should be 
found on this side of the Rio Grande. 

The force under General Taylor in this hard 
fought battle, but little exceeded 2000 men ; while 
the Mexican army was at least 6000 strong, or 
about three to one against the Americans. Our 
.OSS in the engagement, was four men killed, 
and three officers, and thirty-seven wounded — ■ 
several of the latter mortally. The loss of the 
Mexicans was 200 killed and about 400 wounded, 
besides the missing and desertions. It is believed, 
however, that their loss in killed, wounded, and 
missing, was but little short of 1000 men. 



CAFTAIl^ MAY'S CHARGE. 

The enemy still retaining their strongest positions, 
at the battle of Resaca de la Raima, General Tayk^r 



444 DARING DEEDS 

saw that they must be disloaged, and tlie batteries 
taken. He therefore gave orders to Captain May 
to take them at all events. May replied, "I will 
do it, sir," and immediately placing himself at the 
head of his dragoons, said, " men, follow me ! " and 
dashed forward with lightning speed, his command 
rapidly upon his heels. As he was rushing on, he 
was stopped by the brave Ridgeley, who said to 
him, " wait, Charley, until I draw their fire," and 
at the same instant discharged his batteries upon 
the enemy. The discharge of their guns was almost 
simultaneously with Ridgeley's. By this great 
presence of mind, and noble-hearted magnanimity, 
he saved May from a fire that must have made 
dreadful slaughter among his men. and drew the 
fire upon himself. There are but few instances 
of equal bravery and magnanimity on record. The 
instant Ridgeley had thus drawn upon himself the 
fire of the Mexican battery. May again dashed on 
in advance of his command, in spite of a most 
destructive fire, and cleared the enemy's works at 
a bound, cutting down the gunners at their pierces. 
He was gallantly supported by his men, and tlie 
Mexicans were driven from their guns by their 
furious charge. They immediately rallied, hovv^ever, 



OF AMERICAN HEEOES. 44:5 

{ind again got possession of them, May's command 
having scattered among the enemy. But he coj- 
lected several of them, and again charged the 
enemy. In this charge he captured General La 
Yega, while bravely fighting at the guns. He im 
mediately surrendered to Captain May, and was 
carried to our lines in charge of Lieutenant Stevens. 
But though the battery had been silenced for 
the time, it was not captured. The enemy re- 
manned their guns, and were preparing to pour 
their deadly fire again into our ranks. But the 
Fifth regiment, which had followed closely upon 
the heels of the dragoons, now approached the 
battery, and charged the enemy up to the very 
cannon's mouth, the enemy and our soldiers con- 
tending hand to hand for the possession of tlie 
works. The struggle was a fierce and bloody one, 
out the enemy were cut down at their guns, or 
compelled to fly, and the battery was left in ])os- 
eession of the Americans. 



CAPTAIN MOEEIS AKD MAJOR ALLEN. 

The Third regiment, under the command of Cap- 
tain Morris, and the Fom-th, under Major Allen, 
were conspicuous at the battle of Resaca de la 
Palma for the spirit with which thej entered the 
contest. These two corps gallantly rivaled each 
other in sharing the brilliant events of the day. 
They fearlessly charged through the densest chap- 
paral ; and while Captain Morris, and the other 
officers of the Third, Avere overcoming what ap- 
peared to be insurmountable difficulties to meet 
the enemy, the Fourth came into the ravine, op- 
posite an intrenchment supported by a piece of 
artillery, that poured a most galling fire into our 
ranks. Captain Buchanan, being senior officer 
nearest the point, collected some twenty-five or 
thirty men, and with Lieutenant Hays and Woods 
charged across the lagoon, knee and waist deep m I 
water, and after a close-quarter conflict, routed the 
enemy. Lieutenant Hays distinguished himself by 



OF AMEKIOAN HEROES. 44:7 

eprlngirig forward and seizing the leading mules 
attaclied to the i)iece, to prevent its being driven 
off, while Lieutenant Woods sprang to the hand- 
spikes, and turned it in such a direction as to lock 
one of the wheels against a tree. A large force 
of the enemy's cavalry suddenly charged upon these 
officers, but Captain Barbour, of the Third, came 
to the rescue, and with the point of the bayonet 
drove off the cavalry. Corporal Chisholm, of the 
Third infantry, shot the Mexican lieutenant-colonel 
who led the charge. As the officer fell, the cor 
poral was seen to hand him his canteen of water, 
and but a moment afterward Chisholm Vv^as lying 
dead on his back, with a cartridge in his hand, and 
the bitten-off end resting on his lips. 

Buchanan's party, along with portions of the 
Fifth regiment, then charged on the Mexican lines. 
In the excitement, Lieutenant-Colonel Mcintosh 
dashed on a wall of chapparal, although it was 
lined with infantry and cavalry. Under a galL'iig 
fire he broke it down by repeated blows of his 
sword, and the weight of his horse. The instant 
he got throngh, his horse fell dead under hini ; 
Colonel McLitosh sprang to his feet ; a crowd of 

Mexicans, armed with muskets and lances, rushed 
21 31 



448 •)AEING DEEDS 

upon liim ; still lie gallantly defended himself. A 
bayonet passed througli his mouth and came out 
below his ear ; seizing the weapon, he raised his 
sword to cut the fiend down who held it, when 
another bayonet passed through and terribly shat 
tered his arm, and another still, through his hip; 
borne down by superiority of force, he fell, and 
was literally pinned to the earth. The command 
of the Fifth now devolved upon Major Staniford, 
who conducted it with zeal and ability to the close 
of the engagement. 



BATTLE OF EESACA DE LA PALMA. 

The detailed report of this brilliant action, so 
glorious to the American arms, and reflecting so 
much honor upon our gallant army, is given below. 
However minutely and correctly it may have been 
described, the account would be imperfect without 
the report of the commanding officer. General 
Taylor seems to be everywhere and to see every 
thing, and is therefore better prepared to give 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. M9 

perfectly all the particulars of the engageirient. 
He does it, in this instance as in all others, with 
that rare combination of modesty and good sense, 
and it is marked by the same beanty and elegance 
of style, and clearness and perspicuity of exj)ression, 
that have distinguished all his dispatches: 

" Early on the morning of the 9th instant, the 
enemy who had encamped near the field of battle 
of the day previous, was discovered moving by his 
left flank, evidently in retreat; and perhaps at the 
same time to gain a new position on the road to 
Matamoras, and there again resist our advance. 

"I ordered the supply train to be strongly 
parked at its position, and left with it four pieces 
of artillery — the two eighteen-pounders which had 
done such good service on the previous day, and two 
twelve-pounders which had not been in the action. 
The wounded officers and men were at the same 
time sent back to Point Isabel. I then moved for- 
ward with the columns to the edge of the chap- 
paral or forest, which extends to the Rio Grande, 
a distance of seven miles. The light companies of 
the first brigade, under Captain C. F. Smith, Second 
artillery, and a select detachment of light troops, 
the whole under the command of Captain McCall, 



450 DARING DEEDS 

Fourth infantry, were thrown forward into the chap 
paralj to feel the enemy and ascertain his position. 
About three o'clock, I received a report from the 
advance, that the enemy was in position on the 
road, with at least two pieces of artillery. The com- 
mand was immediately put in motion, and at about 
four o'clock I came up with Captain McCall, who 
reported the enemy in force in our front, occupy- 
ing a ravine which intersects the road and is 
skirted by thickets of dense chapparal. Eidgeley's 
battery and the advance under Captain McCall 
were at once thrown forward on the road, and into 
the chapparal on either side, while the Fifth infantry 
and one wing of the Fourth were thrown into the 
forest on the left, and the Third and the other wing 
of the Fourth, on the right of the road. These corps 
were employed as skirmishers to cover the battery 
and engage the Mexican infantry. Captain Mc- 
Call's command became at once engaged with the 
enemy, while the light artillery, though in a very 
exposed position, did great execution. The enemy 
liad at least eight pieces of artillery, and maintained 
an incessant fire upon our advance. 

" The action now became general, and although 
the enemy's infantry gave way before the steady 



OF AMERICAN IIEKOES. 451 

fire and resistless progress of on:? own, jet his ar- 
tillery was still in position to ch( ck our advance — 
several pieces occupying the pass across the ravine, 
which he had chosen for his position. Perceiving 
that no decisive advantage could be gained until 
this artillery was silenced, I ordered Captain May 
to charge the batteries with his squadron of dra- 
goons. This was gallantly and effectually executed : 
the enemy was driven from his guns, and General 
La Vega, who remained alone at one of the bat- 
teries, was taken prisoner. The squadron, which 
suffered much in this charge, not being immediately 
supported , by infantry, could not retain possession 
of the artillery taken, but it was completely si- 
lenced. In the mean time, the Eighth infantry had 
been ordered up, and had become warmly engaged 
on the right of the road. This regiment and a 
part of the Fifth, were now ordered to cljarge the 
batteries, which was handsomely done and the 
enemy driven from his artillery, and his position 
on the left of the road. 

"The light companies of the first brigade, and 
the Third and Fourth regiments of infantry, had 
been deployed on the right of the road, where, at 
various points, they became briskly engaged with 



452 D A K I N a DEEDS 

tlie enemy. A small party mider Captain BucLanan 
and Lieutenant Wood and Hays, Fourth infantry, 
composed chiefly of men of that regiment, drove 
tlie enemy from a breast-work which he occupied, 
and captured a piece of artillery. An attempt to 
• recover this piece was repelled by Captain Barbour, 
Third infantry. The enemy was at last completely 
driven from his position on the right of the road, 
and retreated precipitately, leaving baggage of 
every description. The Fourth infantry took pos- 
session of a camp where the head-quarters of the 
Mexican general-in-chief were established. All his 
official correspondence was captured at this place. 
"The artillery battalion, excepting tlie flank 
companies, had been ordered to guard the baggage 
train, which was parked some distance in rear. 
The battalion was now ordered up to pursue the 
enemy, and with the Third infantry. Captain Ker's 
dragoons, and Captain Duncan's battery, followed 
him rapidly to the river, making a number of 
prisoners. Great numbers of the enemy were 
drowned in attempting to cross the river near the 
town. The corps last mentioned encamped near 
the river; the remainder of the army on the field 
of battle. 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 453 

"The strengtli of our marcliing force on this 
day, as exhibited in the annexed field report, was 
1Y3 officers, and 2049 men — aggregate, 2222. The 
actual number engaged with the enemy did not 
exceed 1700. Our loss was three officers killed and 
twelve wounded; thirty-six men killed and seventy- 
one wounded. 

" I have no accurate data from which to esti- 
mate the enemy's force on this day. He is known 
to have been reinforced after the action of the Sth, 
both by cavalry and infantry, and no doubt to an 
extent at least equal to his loss on that day. It 
is probable that 6000 men were opposed to us, and 
in a position chosen by themselves, and strongly 
defended ^xith artillery. The enemy's loss was 
very great. IsTearly 200 of his dead were buried 
by us on the day succeeding the battle. His lo.-s 
in killed, wounded, and missing, in the two affiiirs 
of the Sth and 9th, is, I think, moderately esti- 
mated at 1000 men. 

" Our victory has been decisive. A small f )rce 

has overcome immense odds of the best troops that 

Mexico can furnish — veteran regiments perfectly 

equipped and appointed. Eight pieces of artillery, 

several colors and standards, a great number of 
21* 



4:54 PARING DJCEDS 

prisoners, including fourteen officers, and a large 
amount of baggage and public property have fallen 
into our bands. 



TAKIE^G OF SONOMA. 

In 1838, an exploring expedition was sent out 
hj- tbe war department, under tbe direction of 
Lieutenant I^icollet, to make a scientific exploration 
'^f tbe countries bordering on tbe Pacific Ocean. 
On tbe deatb of Lieutenant Nicollet, in 1843, Cap- 
Lain, afterward Lieutenant-Colonel Fremont, wbo 
nad been bis principal assistant, was appointed to 
the command of tbe expedition. Hardly bad lie 
entered California, in January, 1846, wben be re- 
ceived information tbat General Castro, witb a large 
force, was advancing to drive bim from tbe terri- 
tory, tbougb tbis same' Castro bad but a few weeks 
before, given bim permission to winter in tbe val- 
ley of San Joaquin. Colonel Fremont was in no 
condition to act against tbis force ; bis intentions in 
entering tbe territory bad been entirely pacific, and 



OF AMERICAN IIEKOES. 455 

I s whole force was but sixtj-two men. With this 
li.tlc "band, however, he determined to await the 
attack of Castro, and accordingly took position on 
a mountain about thirty miles from Monterey, 
where he intrenched himself and raised the flair 
of the United States, and then continued for a 
week, when, not being attacked, he thought it best 
to retire, by slow marches, toward Oregon. On the 
loth of May, he arrived at the Great Tlamath Lake. 
There he found his further progress completely 
barred by the double obstacle of hostile Indians, 
incited against him by Castro, and the lofty moun- 
tains, covered with deep and falling snows. These 
were the difficulties and dangers in front. Behind, 
General Castro was assembling his troops, at So- 
noma, with the avowed intention of attacking Fre- 
mqiit's party, and exterminating all the American 
settlers, wliom he accused of an intention t© revolt. 
Such being the state of affairs. Colonel Fremont 
determined, after mature deliberation, on the 6th 
of June, to turn upon his pursuers, and secure his 
safety as well as that of the American settlers, by 
overturning the Mexican government in California. 
At that time the war with Mexico had commenced, 
and the two battles on the Ptio Grande had been 



456 DARING DEEDS 

foiiglit, but of this Fremont knew nothing. He 
formed Lis judgment on the circumstances around 
l;im, and not on any of the previous events con- 
nected with military operations. Having come to 
this determination, he, on the 11th of June, cap- 
tured a convoy of 200 horses, going to the camp 
of Castro ; and on the 15th, at daybreak, surprised 
the military post at Sonoma, and captured it, to- 
gether, with nine pieces of brass cannon, 250 stand 
of arms, and several officers, whom he detained as 
prisoners. Leaving a garrison of fourteen men at 
Sonoma, Colonel Fremont repaired to the American 
settlements on' the Kio de los AmeHcanos to obtain 
assistance. Scarcely had he arrived there, when 
an express reached him, that Castro was preparing 
to attack his little garrison. He immediately, on 
the 23d of June, set out for Sonoma, and arrived 
there &ia. the 25th with ninety mounted ri%men 
A party of twenty, sent forward to reconnoiter, fell 
in with the vanguard of Castro's force, consisting 
of a squadron of seventy dragoons, which they at- 
tacked and defeated, killing two and wounding- 
three, without harm to themselves. Castro, imme- 
diately after this defeat, fell back, first to Santa 
Clara, and then farther toward Ciudad de los . 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 4:5T 

Angelos. In tlie course of this pursuit Freraont 
learned, for the first time, that war existed between 
the United states and Mexico ; and that Monterey, 
in Upper California, had been taken by a naval 
force under Commodore Sloat, on the 7th of July. 
The commodore instructed him to march throudi 
Monterey, when he would arrange with him a 
combined land and naval expedition to pursue 
Castro, and subjugate the territory. He did so, 
and found Commodore Stockton in command. 
Commodore Sloat having returned to the United 
States. 

The combined pursuit of Castro was rapidly 
continued, and on the 12th of August, Commodore 
Stockton and Colonel Fremont, with a detachment 
of marines from the squadron and some riflemen, 
entered the city of Los Angelos, without opposi- 
tion ; the Governor-General Pico, the Commandant- 
General Castro, and all the Mexican authorities 
having fled and dispersed. Commodore Stockton 
took possession of the whole country as a conquest 
of the United States. 



CAPTUKE OF MONTEEEY. 

Early in the morning of tlie 21st of September, 
General Worth put his division in motion, having 
written a note to General Taylor, suggesting a di- 
version in his favor, on the north and east of the 
town. Tlie road wound in and out around the 
ridges projecting from the mountains oii the west, 
and sometimes brousrht the column within ran2:e 
of the batteries on the hill of Independence. On 
turning one of these angles, at the hacienda of San 
Jeromino, a strong force of Mexican cavahy and 
infantry came suddenly upon the advance, which 
consisted of Hays' Texans, supported by the liglit 
companies of the first brigade under Captain C. F. 
Smith, and Duncan's battery. The rangers met 
the charge with a deadly fire from their unerring 
rifles, and the light companies also opened upon 
the attacking party. Duncan's battery was in action 
In a moment, together with a section of Lieutenant 
Mackairs battery. The conflict lasted about fifteen 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 459 

mimitcs, when, as the whole first brigade had now 
formed to the front, the enemy retired in disorder 
along the Saltillo road, closely followed by the 
.Vmericans, who took possession of the gorge, and 
thus prevented their return to the city, and ex- 
cluded all reinforcements and supplies from enter- 
ing in that direction. The enemy left 100 of their 
men, either killed or wounded, on the ground, and 
among them a colonel of lancers. 
. Previous to the reception of General Worth's 
note. General Taylor had determined to make a 
diversion against the lower part of the town. The 
first division of regulars, and the division of volun- 
teers, moved toward the city in the morning, hav- 
ing left one company of each regiment as a camp 
guard. The dragoons under Lieutenant-Colonel 
May, and Colonel Wood's regiment of Texan 
mounted volunteers, under the immediate command 
of General Henderson, were directed to the right 
to support General "Worth. Lieutenant-Colonel 
Garland advanced with Bragg's battery, and the 
First and Third infantry, and the Baltimore and 
Washington battalion, piloted by Major Mansfield, 
against the defenses at the northeastern angle of 

the city, while the mortar served by Captain 
32 



4:60 BAKING DEEDS 

E-amsay, and the howitzer battery under Captain 
Webster, opened their fire. General Butler re- 
mained with his division in rear of the battery. 
The remaining regiment of General Twiggs' di- 
vision, the 4th infantry, was also held in reserve ; 
the general himself, though suffering severely from 
sickness, being present, and directing the move- 
ments of his command. 

The column under Lieutenant-Colonel Garland 
was soon exposed to the converging fire of the 
citadel and the redoubts, and annoyed by the gall- 
ing discharges of musketry from the adjacent houses 
and stone walls. Moving rapidly to the right of 
the fort at the northeastern angle, an attempt was 
made to carry it by gaining a position in the rear. 
Shower upon shower of balls fell upon and around 
them ; yet they pressed nobly on. The stoutest 
hearted of them all began to quail. The best and 
bravest, of both officers and men, had fallen, and 
the whole column seemed devoted to immediate 
destruction. Still those men were ready for the 
advance; their bosoms throbbed with anxiety, but 
they sheltered no coward hearts. It was madness, 
however, for the officers further to expose their 
commands, wh.le the enemy were protected by 



OF AMERICAN HEKOES. 46 L 

their breast-works and barricades ; and most of them 
were temporarily withdrawn to places of compara- 
tive security. The battery imder Captain Bragg 
was terribly cut up, and compelled to retire out 
of range. Captain Backus, of the First infantry, 
with portions of the different compjanies, gained 
the roof of a tannery looking directly into the 
gorge of the fort; and had just commenced pour- 
ing his destructive volleys into the work, when 
General Quitman arrived upon the ground with 
his brigade of volunteers, and three companies of 
the Fourth infantry under Major Allen. They, too, 
encountered a most withering fire. The Tennessee 
regiment sustained a severe loss, and the compa- 
nies of the regular infantry, in the advance, were 
deprived of one third of their officers and men, 
w^ho were struck down in an instant. For a mo- 
ment they staggered and fell back ; but the officers, 
both of the regulars and volunteers, as if animated 
by one sentiment, sprang into the front line, and 
encouraged the men by their words, and their ex- 
ample. Being joined by the remaining comj^anies 
of the Fourth infantry, they again moved forward, 
no longer to be repulsed. The breast-works were 
surrounded, and the battery won. 



d:62 DARING DEEDS 

Meanwhile General JButler had entered the edge 
of the town w^ith the First Ohio regiment, the re- 
maining regiment of General Hamer's brigade, the 
First Kentucky being left to support the mortar 
and howitzer battery. Discovering that nothing 
could be gained in his front, and being advised 
by Major Mansfield to withdraw his command, he 
was about retiring, when he learned that the first 
fort had been taken. The direction of his column 
was promptly changed, and he advanced under a 
severe fire to within 100 yards of the second fort, 
called El Diablo. He here found that the inter- 
vening space was completely swept by the fire of 
three distinct batteries, but being anxious to cap- 
ture the work, if within his power, he was prepar- 
ing to storm it, when he received a severe wound 
w^hich compelled him to halt. He afterward sur- 
rendered the command to General Hamer, who 
moved the regiment to a new position, and within 
sustaining distance of the batteries under Captains 
Kidgeley and "Webster, which had already occupied 
the first fort, and were vigorously playing upon the 
second. General Taylor now came up, and ordered 
Lieutenant-Colonel Garland, with such men as could 
be collected of the First, Third, and Fourth infantry, 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 463 

and ^Baltimore and Washington battalion, with a 
section of Kidgele^^'s battery, to enter the town^ 
penetrate to the right, and carry the second bat- 
tery, if possible. The command advanced beyond 
the bridge, Pm'issima, exposed to an incessant fire 
from the forts and the citadel, where they sustained 
themselves for some time, but finding it impracti- 
cable to gain the rear of the battery, they withdrew 
to the captured fort. 

For six long hours had this contest continued in 
the lower part of the town. The streets were slip- 
pery with the blood of the assailants. They had 
lost 394 men, in killed and wounded, during the 
operations of the day, among whom were some of 
the ablest and most accomplished ofilcers. in tlie 
service. The line of the enemy's defenses had been 
penetrated, and a foothold gained, but at a gi'eat 
sacrifice. It was truly a scene of havoc and 
slauo-hter. 

Tlie capture of Federacion hill, and the Soldada, 
only rendered it more necessary that the position 
of the hill of Independence and the Bishop's palace 
bIiouUI also be secured. The party who stormed 
the former, liad been nearl}^ thirtj-six hours witli- 
out food, and to add to their liardsliips a violent 



464 DARING DEEDS 

storm came up, toward evening on tlie 21st. With- 
out any covering to protect them from the pelting 
rain, they lay down with their arms upon the 
ground, to snatch a few hours sleep. At three 
o'clock in the morning of the 22d, they were 
aroused to storm the hill of Independencia. The 
execution of this enterprise was intrusted to Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Childs, with three companies of his 
artillery battalion, three companies of the Eighth 
infantry under Captain Scriven, and 200 Texan 
riflemen, under Colonel Hays and Lieutenant-Colo- 
nel Walker. There were faint gleams of morning 
light dancing on the summits of the hills, but the 
sky was curtained by a thick veil of clouds, and 
the valley still in deep shade. Proceeding cau- 
tiously along, the party picked their way up the 
steep hill, among the rocks and thorny bushes of 
chapparal, and at daybreak were within 100 yards 
of the breast-work on the summit. Here they en- 
countered a body of Mexicans who had been sta- 
tioned in a cleft of rocks on the night, previous, in 
anticipation of an attack. Three men of the artil- 
lery battalion, having advanced with too much 
haste, came unexpectedly upon the enemy. They 
instantly yielded, but were shot down with tlie very 



OF AMEEICAN HEROES. 465 

pieces which they had surrendered. It did not 
require this act of cruelty and outrage to kindle 
the zeal and fire the ambition of their comrades. 
"With a loud fierce shout for vengeance they sprang 
up the height. A deadly volley from their guns, 
and a charge with the bayonet, placed them in 
possessioi^ of the work; the enemy delivering an 
ineffectual fire as they retreated. The next object 
of attack was the Bishop's palace, about 400 yards 
distant. The Mexicans had withdrawn their guns 
from the battery, and the detachment were obliged 
to wait for their own cannon. Lieutenant Rowland, 
of Duncan's battery, was ordered from the main 
rank with a twelve-pounder howitzer, and in two 
hours his men had dragged and lifted their piece 
up the hill, by main strength, and were showering 
their missiles upon the enemy. 

The detachment on the height was also reinforced 
by the Fifth infantry and the Louisiana volunteers. 
The enemy saw the advantage which had been 
gained, and manifested a determination to recover 
the heights. Several feints were made, and then 
a heavy sortie, supported by a strong body of cav- 
alry. The Americans were prepared for the move- 
ment. Captain Yinton advanced, under cover of 



4:66 DARING DEEDS 

tlie rocks, witli two companies of light troops, to 
draw the enemy forward, followed by the main 
column under Lieutenant-Colonel Childs, with the 
lexans on either flank. The Mexicans advanced 
boldly, but were scattered into confusion by one 
general discharge from all arms. Before they could 
regain their works, the American soldiers rushed 
dovrn upon them, shouting as they ran. Entering 
the palace by a door w^hich had been barricaded, 
but opened by the fire of the howitzer, they com 
[)leted the victory. Lieutenant Ayres w^as the 
first t(» reach the halyards and haul down the flag, 
which was soon replaced by the American standard, 
waving proudly in the breeze. The captured guns, 
together with Duncan's and Mackall's batteries, 
which came up at a full gallop, were effectively 
served upon the Mexican soldiers, who fled toward 
the city, pouring in confused masses down the 
street leading to the Plaza de la Capella, the pro- 
longation of which was now held by the Americans. 
With the loss of but seventy men in killed and 
wounded. General Worth had accomplished the 
purpose for which his division was detached. The 
enterprise was executed promptl}^ and skillfully, and 
v,'i:b entire success. His wlioie force was soon after 



©F AMERICAN HEROES. 467 

concentrated in the vicinity of the palace, in 
readiness to co-operate with General Taylor in an 
assault upon the town. 

Meanwhile General "Worth had not been idle. 
In the morning of the 23d, he sent a detachment 
to take possession of the gorge near Santa Catarina, 
and liad designed to move forward into the city 
under favor of the ensuing night ; but on hearing 
the heavy firing upon the opposite side of the town, 
he organized two columns of attack, who were 
ordered to press on to the first plaza, keeping under 
cover as much as possible, to get hold of the streets 
beyond it, and then, entering the houses, to break 
through the longitudinal sections of the walls w^Ith 
picks and bars, and work their way from house 
to house. The light artillery followed the columns 
in sections and pieces to support the movement. 

All day long the work proceeded. Step by 

step, slowly, but surely, the Americans won their 

way into the city. The solid masonry yielded 

before their ponderous blows. The inhabitants were 

stricken as with a panic. For years Monterey had 

defied the arm-s of Spain ; but here were soldiers 

who mocked at every obstacle, and overcame 

every difiiculty. Begrimed with dust and smoke, 
22 



468 DA.RING DEEDS 

imagination pictured tliem as beings from another 
world. As tliey sprang, like magic, througli the 
lirm walls of the apartments where pale-faced wo- 
mei^ liad retired for shelter, shriek upon shriek rent 
the air, and only ceased when those who uttered 
them were assured, in friendly tones, that there 
were wives and daughters by the firesides of those 
dark warriors, who waited for their coming, and 
whose purity and innocence were not forgotten 
even in the wild excitement of that hour, by those 
who esteemed and loved them. Galleries and cor- 
ridors, chambers and balconies, which had oft re- 
sounded with the notes of merriment and joy, or 
listened to the endearments of affection and the 
soft accents of love, now echoed with the rattle of 
musketry, tlie sharp crack of the rifle, the clash 
of steel against steel, the exulting shout and dying 
groan; and, high above all the din, rose the un- 
ceasing thunder of artillery. 

At sunset General Worth's division had readied 
a street but one square in rear of the great plaza, 
leaving a covered vray behind them, and had car- 
ried a large building overlooking the principal de- 
fenses of the enemy. The mortar had been sent 
round by General Taylor, and this vras ])]acc<l in 



? 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 469 

position in the Plaza de la Capella, masked by the 
cliurch wall, and opened on the main plaza and 
the cathedral, where the enemy were principally 
collected, and whither the aged and helpless had 
retired as to their only remaining place of refuge. 
The two howitzers, and a six-pounder were also 
mounted on the captured building, and every pre- 
paration made during the night to renew the assault 
at dawn of day. But this was rendered unnecessary. 
Monterey was already lost and won ! 

Early in the morning of the 24:th, a flag was sent 
out by General Ampudia, accompanied by Colonel 
Moreno as the bearer of a communication to Gen- 
eral Taylor, proposing to evacuate the city with 
the jfjersonnel and materiel of war. This was posi- 
tively refused, and a surrender of the town de- 
manded. Soon after, a conference took place 
"between General Taylor and General Ampudia, 
at the quarters of General "Worth, which resulted 
in the appointment of commissioners and the capit- 
ulation of the city. 



BATTLE OF SAN PASQUAL. 

General Kearny, with 100 men and two moim- 
tain howitzers, proceeded along the river Gila to 
its junction with the Colorado, and thence across 
the desert, until, on the 5th of December, 1846, he 
w^as met, about forty miles from San Diego, by a 
small party of volunteers, sent by Commodore 
Stockton to escort him to that place. On the next 
morning, December 6th, a party of 160 Californians 
was discovered at San Pasqual, and attacked, and 
after a severe engagement, in which the Americans 
lost thirty-four men in killed and wounded, were 
completely routed. The loss of the .enemy was not 
ascertained. The detachment reached San Diego 
on the 12th of December, 1846. 

On the 29th of December, General Kearny, and 
Commodore Stockton, with 500 men, mostly marines 
and sailors, and a battery of artillery, left San 
Diego for Los Angelos, then in the possession of 
the enemy. On the 8th of January, the enemy 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 471 

Vvcis discovered, niiinbering about 600, occupying a 
Btroiig position on a rising ground, commanding 
the passage of the river San Gabriel. The troops 
were soon formed in order of battle, the river 
forded, the heights carried after about an hour's 
lighting, when the enemy were compelled to re- 
treat. On the next day, the enemy appeared in 
force on the front and flanks of the Americans, 
harassing and galling them with their artillery, 
for about two hours, when, arriving at the plains 
of the Mesa, they conceutrated their forces, and 
made a charge upon the American left. This being 
repulsed, with some loss to them, they retired, and 
on the 10th the city was entered without further 
molestation. The American loss on the 8th and 9th 
of January, was one killed and thirteen^ wounded. 
The loss of the enemy was not known, as they 
were mounted on good horses, and carried off their 
killed and wounded. 



BATTLE OF BRACITO. 

Colonel Doniphan left Santa Fe on the 1st of 
December 1846, with his regiment, numbering 924, 
including Lieutenant-Colonel Mitchell's escort of 
100 picked men. His march lay along the left 
bank of the Rio Grande, and on the 25th of De- 
cember he had arrived at a place called Bracito, 
284 miles from Santa Fe, where they first met the 
enemy. About 600 of the men encamped on that 
day at two o'clock P. M., and were engaged in 
carrying wood and water, their horses being un- 
saddled and grazing at a short distance, when the 
word was passed that the enemy was in sight, ad- 
vancing. The troops were called together instantly 
but as there was not time to saddle their horses, 
they were drawn up as infantry. The Mexicans, 
numbering about 1100, drew up in good order, on 
the summit of a small hill, with their cavalry on 
the right of their line, a small howitzer in the 
center, and on the left their infantry. Previous to 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 473 

the encounter, a lieutenant advanced from their 
ranks bearing a black flag, for the purpose of in- 
forming Colonel Doniphan that the Mexicans before 
him gave no quarter, and would ask none. Their 
charge was immediately made by their dragoons 
against the left of the American line, the infantry 
at the same time advancing steadily and pouring 
in three volleys before they were answered. But 
when the cavalry had advanced within 100 steps 
of the line, such a volley was returned as caused 
the whole of the enemy's line to waver, and an- 
other sent the dragoons to the left, in their flight 
making an attack on the provision train. There 
they met with a warm reception, and were soon 
compelled to fly in every direction in the utmost 
confusion. In the mean time, the enemy's infantry 
had been put to flight, and were pursued by fifteen 
men under Captain Reid, who had jumped upon 
their horses, while a company of volunteers, taking 
advantage of their position on the rout of the 
enemy, charged upon them and captured their 
cannon. The rout was complete, and the enemy 
fled, without stopping, nearly 100 miles, neglecting 
to fortify El Paso, which a few determined men 

might have defended against a vast superior force. 
22* 33 



474- DARING DEEDS 

The American loss in this, the first battle of the 
army of the west, was seven men wounded, none 
killed. The Mexicans lost about thirty men killed, 
and eight prisoners, six of whom afterward died 
of their wounds. The number of their wounded 
was not ascertained. 



CHAPTER Xin.— 1847. 



BATTLE OF BUE]^A YISTA.' 

On the morning of the 20th of February, o^r 
army being encamped at Agua IsTueva information 
was received that the enemy was advancing, when 
General Taylor ordered the troops to fall back upon 
Buena Yista. Early on the 22d, the clouds of 
dust toward Agua E'ueva, told that the Mexican 
army was on the advance. At about 11 o'clock 
the long roll of the drum summoned us to the 
field. Our regiments were formed, artillery posted, 
and we availed ourselves of every advantage that 
could be taken of the ground. In a few minutes, 
the leading columns of the enemy were distinctly 
seen, at a distance of two miles, steadily advancing 
in the most perfect order. Some 2000 lancers with 
the artillery, fourteen pieces of different caliber, 
from twenty-four's down, composed the leading di- 
vision; then such a host of infantry and lances as 
never was seen in Mexico before, I suppose, came 



476 ' DARING DEEDS 

into full view and filed into position. It was a 
most grand and gorgeous spectacle : the sun glanc- 
ing from the bright lances and bayonets of 21000 
men — the rattling of their artillery carriages — the 
prancing of their richly caparisoned horses, and the 
continued sound of their bugles, swelling through 
the air, made up a scene never to be described or 
forgotten. The armies in line of battle were drawn 
up in a mountain pass. On our right was a deep 
ravine, impracticable to be turned by cavalry oi 
artillery, whilst on our left the mountains of 
" Sierra Madre " towered 2000 feet into the skies. 
A. spur of continuous hills, running from the moun- 
tain nearly to the ravine, was occupied by our 
troops — whilst the space between the spur of hills 
and the ravine, over which the San Luis road runs, 
was occupied by five pieces of light artillery, com- 
manded by Captain Washington. This was our 
center, and was most gallantly defended by Cap- 
tain Washington, upon whose battery the enemy 
played four hours with six twenty-four pounders, 
planted within point blank range, and out of reach 
. of his sixes, without making the slightest impression 
on them. Between the two armies were immense 
ravines, some of them nearly fifty feet deep, tho 



OF AMERICAN EROES. 477 

sides covered with loose peobles, and the bottoms 
extremely precipitate and serpentine from the heavy 
washing rains. A smooth piece of ground next the 
mountain, and between it and the head of the ra- 
vines, some 300 yards in depth, was the most ac- 
cessible point for turning our left flank, if, indeed, 
an army of 5200 men, displayed over two miles of 
ground, in the presence of such a host, could be 
considered as having a flank. Overlooking "Wash- 
ington's battery, and within near musket shot, is a 
high hill on the crown of which was posted the 
first regiment of Illinois volunteers, to cover the 
battery and save the center. 



CAPTURE OF ALYARADO. 

On the 30th of March, 1847, a detachment of 
troops under General Quitman left Yera Cruz to 
co-operate with the squadron under Commodore 
Perry, in a joint attack upon Alvarado. Lieuten- 
ant Hunter was dispatched in advance, with the 
steamer Scourge, to blockade the port. He arrived 



4:78 DARING DEEDS 

off the bar in the afternoon of the 30th, and at 
once opened a fire upon the forts, at the mouth 
of the river, which were garrisoned by 400 men. 
During the night he stood off, but renewed the 
attack in the morning, when the enemy evacuated 
their defenses. Several government vessels in the 
harbor were burned, and the guns spiked or buried 
in the sand before they retired. Leaving a garri- 
son in the fort, Lieutenant Hunter proceeded up 
the river and succeeded in capturing four schoon- 
ers. Early in the morning of the 1st of April, he 
anchored off Thlacotalpan, a city containing near 
7000 inhabitants, which surrendered to him without 
offering any resistance. Commodore Perry arrived 
on the 2d with the squadron, but the towns on the 
river were already captured. 



TAKING OF PUEBLA. 

General "Worth halted at Amasoque, twelve miles 
from Puebla, with his division, on the 14:th of May, 
to await the arrival of General Quitman. About 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 479 

eight o'clock in the forenoon he found his position 
suddenly menaced by about 3000 Mexican cavalry, 
commanded by Santa Anna. When first discovered 
they appeared to be moving along on the right 
flank of the Americans, toward their rear ; it was 
soon reported that a heavy column was also ap- 
proaching on the main road. Colonel Garland, with 
the Second artillery and a section of Duncan's bat 
tery, and Major Bonneville, with the Sixth infantry 
and Steptoe's battery, were ordered to attack the 
cavalry force, and the remainder of the troops pre- 
pared to meet the enemy said to be advancing in 
front. 'No other party was discovered, however, and 
after twenty-five rounds were fired from the batter- 
ies, the Mexican cavalry were routed, and disap- 
peared among the hills. Some prisoners were taken, 
and ninety-eight of the enemy were killed or 
wounded. Late at night Santa Anna reached Pu- 
ebla with his discomfited troops, and evacuated it 
early on the following day. Having been joined 
by General Quitman's brigade. General Worth 
entered the town in the morning of the 15th, with- 
out meeting any further resistance, and on the 
ensuing day took possession of the adjacent heights 
of Loretto and Guadaloupe, and planted a battery 
on the hill of San Juan. 



480 DARING DEEDS 

History presents few instances of the display of 
daring and boldness whicli deserve to be compared 
with the entrance of the American soldiers into the 
city of Puebla. But little more than 4000 men, 
weather-beaten, jaded, and wayworn, with the dust 
of many a dreary day's journey " on their sandal 
shoon," in the gray fatigue-dress of the service, and 
unaccompanied by the gay paraphernalia of war, 
marched through the midst of a hostile population 
of 60,000 souls, stacked their arms in the public 
square, posted their guards, and, when the night- 
watches came, lay down to sleep without one emo- 
tion of fear or alarm. 



AFFAIR AT THE l^ATIOl^AL BRIDGE. 

General Pierce left Yera Cruz on the 16th of 
July, with 2500 men, all in arms, including a bat- 
talion of marines, under Lieutenant-Colonel Watson. 
His column, with the wagon-train, was nearly two 
miles in length. On arriving near the l^ational 
Bridge, he found it obstructed and defended, in 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 481 

the same manner as on the passage of the river 
bj General Cadwalader ; but he was unable to 
place his artillery in a commanding position, and 
orders were therefore given to charge upon the 
enemy. Lieutenant-Colonel Bonham, of the Twelfth 
infantry, at the head of his battalion, rushed for- 
ward imder a heavy fire from the enemy's escopetas, 
followed by Captain Duperu, with his company of 
the Third dragoons, sword in hand. The men 
leaped over the barricade upon the bridge, and in 
the space of ten minutes the guerilleros were flying 
in every direction. The command proceeded to 
the Rio del Plan, where they discovered that the 
main arch of the bridge had been blown up. 
Having crossed the river, General Pierce continued 
on his way to join General Scott. He was five 
times attacked by the guerilleros, including the 
renconter at the Puente Naciohal, but repulsed 
them on every occasion. 



GEN^ERAL EILEY AT C0:NtTREEA1^. 

The following account of the Battle of Coutreras, 
contains more particulars of the achievements of 
General Rilej than any other we have seen. Yery 
early on the morning of the 19th of August there 
was discovered from the top of the house in 
which we were quartered in San Augustin, a large 
body of the enemy, some 12,000 or 15,000, on our 
left, about three miles distant. General Scott had 
ordered reconnoisances in that direction toward San 
Anfiel, where I reported to him. He immediately 
ordered two divisions forward under Pillow and 
Twiggs, and followed soon after himself. The enemy 
were found in an intrenched camp, at a place 
called Contreras, with twenty pieces of artillery, 
some of them very heavy siege pieces. — The at- 
tack commenced at noon, and the firing continued 
incessantly until dark, when it ceased on both sides, 
our troops maintaining their ground and occupying a 
village near by. During the afternoon we watched 



OF.AMEKICAN II E R O iC S . 483 

the different inovements of our troops witli the 
most fearful anxietj, and could plainly see one of 
our columns resist a large body of cavalry, and 
the enemy falling from their saddles and taking 
to their heels, or rather to their horses' heels. Du- 
ring the whole of the fight we could see, on the 
right, a body of at least 10,000 infantry and cavalry 
in reserve, toward the city; but they had not the 
courage to advance, although Santa Anna himself 
was said to be there. 

The attack was ordered to be renewed, at three 
o'clock next morning, and General Scott returned 
to San Augustin. He left at an early hour, taking 
with him General "Worth's and one-half of his divi- 
sion as a reinforcement ; but on the route he was met 
by an officer, who reported that the batteries had 
been carried by our trooj^s in a most gallant style. 
Colonel Riley leading the assault. As he ap- 
proached the scene of action, it seemed incredible 
how our men got over the ground to the attack. 
It was over immense masses of lava thrown up in 
the roughest, sharpest possible shapes, and covered 
with dense brushwood. Streams had to be crossed, 
and deep ravines ; and most of them having passed 
♦■he night in a pelting rain without shelter, it appears 



484- DARING DEEDS 

almost incredible that tliej were able to drive double 

tlieir numbers from a battery of twenty-three heavy 

guns. 

Colonel Eiley's brigade had crossed the ravine, 

and gone up toward Contreras, after a strong body 
of the enemy, which he drove off. The enemy was 
now drawn up in two lines above the village, on 
the right of the fort — the front infantry, and the 
rear cavalry. The village of Ensaldo is protected 
on one side by a deep ravine — -'on the road between 
it and the stream is a house and garden, surrounded 
by a high and rather strong stone wall — the village 
is intersected by narrow lanes, between high dikes, 
inclosing gardens full of fruit trees and shrubbery, 
affording protection and concealment for the men. 
The church standing in the center, also affording 
protection, if necessary. General Smith now di- 
rected General Cadwalader's force to be drawn up 
on the outer edge of the village, facing the enemy's 
heavy force on the left of the fort — formed the 
Third infantry and rifles in column of company, 
left in front of the right flank, and placed Lieutenant 
Smith's sappers and miners, and Captain Irwin's 
company of the Eleventh infantry, in the church, 
and Major Dimick's regiment in the garden on the 
road, in order to secure that avenue and his rear. 



OF AMEKIOAN HElcOES. 485 

General Smitli now determined to attack the large 
force on the enemy's right, with Colonel Riley on 
the left. General Cadwalader, on the right of the 
former^ retired in echelon ; but before the movement 
could be completed, night approached, and the 
enemy's line could not be seen. Therefore the 
order was countermanded, and General Cadwala- 
der resumed his position on the edge of the village ; 
Colonel Riley's brigade was formed in a long line 
inside, parallel to it, the rifles on his left, and the 
Third infantry in the churchyard. Thus they re- 
mained, exposed to a severe rain, all night, with- 
out fire or shelter — the officers, from generals down, 
shared the severity of the weather ; but perhaps 
it only whetted their appetites for a more glorious 
and determined engagement in the morning. But 
now imagine the position of this portion of the 
army, numbering 3500 at the outside, without ar- 
tillery or cavalry ; while the enemy in front and 
on the left had 19,000 troops — those in the fort 
said to be the best of Mexico — with 22 pieces of 
artillery, and among his troops about 7000 cavalry. 
It was evident that some decisive action had to be 
taken, that some great effort had to be made ; and 
General Smith and Colonel Riley, seconded as they 



486 DARING DEEDS 

then were, were just the men competent to the task. 
An attack on the main work was determined npon 
and the movement to take place at three o'clock 
on the following morning. However, here another 
obstacle presented itself; the force of General Smith 
was not strong enough to attack the main work and 
hold the village at the same time ; and it was of 
the utmost importance he should do so, for, if he 
drove the enemy from this main work, and in his 
retreat secured possession of the village, he could 
hold it long enough to allow his troops to get away, 
and in all probability seriously embarrass any further 
movements of our army until he w^as safely fixed 
somewhere else. It is said that fortune favors the 
brave — and in this instance it most truly did ; for 
while General Smith was preparing for the attack. 
General Shields reported his near approach with 
his brigade of South Carolina and Kew York vol- 
unteers ; and here was an exhibition of magna- 
nimity on the part of a high-minded soldier to a 
brother ofiicer. When General Shields arrived, he 
was the ranking officer, and could have assumed 
the command ; but he was not the man to pluck the 
bright laurels about to be gathered by a brotlier 
soldier in carrying one of the strong works of the 



OF A M E K I C A N H E P^ O E ?! , 4S7 

enemy ; accordingly he moved subject to the com- 
mand of General Smith, and his brigade was phiced 
in the village of Ensaldo, as circumstances might re- 
quire, either to cut off the retreat of the enemy from 
Contreras, or to take the reserve of the enem}^, in 
flank, if it should change its front and attempt to at- 
tack our force toward Contreras. 

At three o'clock in the morning of the 20th, our 
troops commenced their movement toward tlje front 
of attack. The night was so dark, that the men 
could not go out of reach of one another for fear 
of losing their way. This caused the movement to 
be so slow, that day-break approached before tlie 
head of General Cadwalader's brigade commenced 
descending into the ravine at the village. As soon 
as Colonel Eiley got out of the deep ravine, and at 
a point where it was thought the rear of the work 
could be approached, the head of the column halted 
and closed, at the same time drawing the loads 
out of the guns supposed to be wet. Colonel Eiley 
then formed his brigade in column by divisions — 
and thus the column stood formed. Colonel Riley's 
brigade on the advance, next General Cadwalader's 
and General Smith's brigades, together with the 
sappers and miners, under the command of Major 



4:88 DARING DEEDS 

Dimiclv, closed up tlie rear — leaving General 
Shields at the village. Colonel Riley continued 
up the ravine bearing a little to his left, and as 
he raised over the bank, he stood fronting the rear 
of the enemy's work; but he vi^as protected from 
the severity of its fire by the favorable position of 
the ground. As soon as Colonel Riley ascended 
the hill and came in fall view of the enemy, they 
immediately opened a warm fire upon him. Colo- 
nel Riley threw out his two advanced divisions as 
skirmishers, and said, " Forward now, my boys, 
close in with them and let the bayonet do its 
work" — and his command rushed down the slope 
with a desperation and enthusiiism enough to strike 
terror to the heart of the boldest, while the rear 
of his command moved steadily forward in solid 
block, with the most mechanical precision. The 
sappers and miners and the rifle regiment, which 
had been thrown across a ravine intervening be- 
tween the one they had passed up, and under tlie 
brow of the slope which Colonel Riley came down, 
from that position poured in a fire which swept in 
front of Colonel Riley's column, then inclining 
toward the left, joined in the attack on the 
troops outside of the left flank of the fort. General 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 489 

Oadwalader followed the route taken b}^ Colonel 
Eiley, and, as soon as his troops were formed, 
moved on to his support. The first brigade, whicli 
was bringing up the rear, had been ordered to follow 
the same route ; but while it was on its march bj 
the right flank up the ravine, and nearly opposite 
the fort, General Smith ordered the brigade to face 
to the left,- and advance in line to attack the en- 
emy's force in flank. This movement was executed 
in less time than it takes me to write it. They 
met the enemy outside of the fort, just as Colonel 
Eiley's brigade rushed into it; the enemy was 
completely routed, and commenced a precipitate 
retreat ; their cavalry and infantry had been formed 
to receive the charge, but both were compelled to 
give way to the bayonet ; the rout was most com- 
plete, and victory most decided. 



GALLANT AFFAIR OF COLONEL DE RUSSEY. 



Early in July, Colonel Gates, of the Third artil- 
lery, the commanding officer at Tampico, received 
23 3i 



490 DARING DEEDS 

information that a number of American prisoners, 
entitled to liberation were at or near Huejutla, over 
1000 miles in the interior, of Tamaulipas, where 
General Garey had established his head-quarters, 
with a force from 1000 to 1500 strong. Being anx- 
ious to liberate them as soon as possible, Colonel 
Gates ordered Colonel De Eussey, of the Louisiana 
volunteers, to proceed to Huejutla, accompanied by 
an escort of 126 men, in order to communicate with 
General Garey, and eifect the restoration of the 
prisoners. 

Colonel De Eussey left Tampico, on the 8th of 
July with his command, consisting of one companji 
of the Third artillery. Captain "Wyse and a field- 
piece ; a company of dragoons, under Captain Boyd 
and Lieutenant Taneyhill ; a detachment of Loui- 
siana volunteers under Captains Mace and Seguine : 
and a small party of Tampico rangers, a volunteer 
company organized by Colonel Gates for the defense 
of the post. Passing up the river Panuco in steam- 
ers, about sixty miles, and then marcning by land 
through Asulwama, the alcalde of which was made 
acquainted with the friendly purpose of the expedi- 
tion, and cheerfully furnished the command witii 
supplies, Colonel De Enssey arrived at Tantayiika 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 491 

twenty-five miles from Huejutla, on the eleventh 
instant. The alcalde of this town was also informed 
of the object of his mission ; and on the morning 
of the 12th he continued his march. So far he 
had been unable to find a military officer who 
might accompany him to the head-quarters of Gen- 
eral Garey, and although he anticipated that pre- 
parations for defense would be made, he intended 
to rely on the white flag when the enemy should 
be discovered, in order to prevent a conflict, at 
least until the pacific nature of his visit should be 
made known. 

About eight miles from Tantayuka, a Mexican 
Indian was met, who informed Colonel De Russey 
that General Garey, with a large force, had laid 
an ambuscade for him, at the Calaboso river, one 
mile in his front. Captain Boyd w^as then in ad- 
vance with his company, and before orders could 
be sent to him to fall - back to the main body, a 
rapid discharge of fire-arms was heard. Colonel 
De Russey hurried forward with the remainder of 
his detachment, and encountered the dragoons in 
retreat, having already lost Captain Boyd and six 
of their comrades. On approaching the river, it 
was found that tlie enemy, who had displayed 



492 DARING DEEDS 

considerable sagacity in their choice of position, had 
cleared the ground from bushes, for the space of 
150 yards on either side of the road, leaving be- 
yond the now open ground, a dense hedge of chap- 
paral, in rear of which ar fence had been constructed 
as an obstacle to the movements of cavalry. The 
main body of General Garey's force were upon the 
opposite bank of the stream, also protected in their 
front by thick chapparal. 

A charge was instantly made on either flank by 
Captains Mace and Seguine, with their men, and 
the enemy retired hastily across the river. Captain 
Wyse at once opened his fire upon the main body 
on the opposite bank, which was kept up for 
nearly an hour, when the enemy manifested a 
disposition to abandon their ground, and their 
fire altogether ceased. It was now ascertained that 
all the cartridges but three had been exhausted, and 
great numbers of the eneniy from the towns through 
which the Americans had passed, were discovered 
on the flanks and in the rear, who had succeeded 
in capturing about ninety mules, laden with the 
provisions, money, and clothing of the detachment. 

It was also known that the road to Huejutla liiy 
through a gorge flanked by steep acclivities, and 



OF AMEKICAN HEROES. 493 

that the prisoners had "been removed. In this po- 
sition of affairs, Colonel De Russey determined to 
retrace his steps with his small command. 
• After the retrograde movement commenced, the 
Mexicans began to harass the American rear, but 
they were always repulsed, with great loss, by 
Captain Mace, who poured upon them his volleys 
of musketry with good effect. On ascending a hill 
about one mile from Tantayuka, a desperate rush 
was made by the enemy, and the rear-guard was 
driven in. Captain Wyse promptly unlimbered his 
gun, and dispersed the Mexicans with two dis- 
charges of canister. In this manner the detachment 
returned to Tantayuka, keeping up a continued fight 
throughout the whole distance of nine miles. "When 
they reached the town, the enemy appeared in 
their front to oppose them. The field-piece was 
again discharged, and again scattered the enemy 
in confusion. 

Colonel De Eussey now posted his men on a 
mound overlooking the town ; powder and ball were 
procured at the stores ; and a number of cartridges 
were prepared, by using champagne bottles, as a 
substitute for tin cylinders, which were half filled 
with balls, and the remaining space packed with 



4:94 D A E I N G D E E D S 

earth. Musket cartridges for the infantry were also 
manufactured, and. every preparation was made to 
defend the position. At nine o'clock on the night 
of the 12th, a message was received fi*ora General 
Garey demanding the immediate surrender of the 
force. Colonel De Russey replied that this was 
impossible, and then informed the bearer of the 
message of the object of his visit. The latter stated, 
in answer, that there had been some misunder- 
standing in regard to the matter, and arranged an 
interview between General Garey and Colonel De 
Russey, to take place in a few hours. The Mexi- 
can officers failed to keep the appointment, and 
suspecting treachery. Colonel De Russey ordered 
his men under arms, and at two o'clock in the 
morning of the 13th continued his retreat toward 
Tampico, protected by the darkness. Shortly after 
daylight the enemy again appeared nj)on the flanks 
and rear of the detachment. "Whenever they at- 
tempted to make a close attack they were driven 
off by the fire of the field-piece or muskets, though 
the pursuit w^as continued for more than fifty miles 
beyond Tantayuka. The detachment succeeded, 
however, in reaching Tampico, having lost, in the 
affair at Calaboso river, and the subsequent retreat, 



OF A M E K I C A N II E K O E S . 495 

fifteen killed and mortally wounded, ten wounded, 
and three missing. The enemy lost nearly 300 in 
killed and wounded. 



CAPTUKE OF THE TUSPAH. 

On th^ morning of the 18th of April, — the day 
n which the heights of Cerro Gordo were carried 
by the troops under General Scott, the Mississippi 
anchored off the bar of Tuspan river; the small 
steamers — their masts being taken out, and other- 
wise lightened — took the gun-boats and barges in 
tow, carrying in all 1200 men, armed with cutlasses, 
pistols, and muskets, and two pieces of field artil- 
lery ; and the other vessels of the squadron remained 
at anchor under Tuspan shoals, from six to eight 
miles eastward of the bar. 

The Spitfire, under Captain Tatnall, led the way 
over the bar, followed by the Yixen and Scourge, 
each having a gun-boat in tow. Two of the steam- 
ers struck ; but they soon ploughed their way over 
the sand, and dashed through the breakers. At 



i96 DAEINa DEEDS 

noon the whole flotilla had entered the river. 
Commodore Perry then hoisted his broad pennant 
on board the Spitfire, and commenced the ascent 
of the stream. About five miles from the month 
of the river, two forts were discovered, on the right 
bank, the guns of which began to plaj briskly upon 
the squadron. The small boats were immediately 
manned with storming parties, and darted for the 
shore, under cover of a rapid fire from the steam- 
ers and gun-boats. The Mexicans did not wait to 
meet the assailants, but retreated down one side 
of the hill, as the gallant tars from the American 
vessels sprang up the other, shouting and cheering 
at the top of their voices. The forts being captm-ed, 
the flotilla again moved forward. 

On approaching Tuspan, another fort erected on 
a high hill, commanding the town, opened on the 
squadron. YoUeys of musketry were fired, at the 
same time, from the thickets of chapparal on the 
bank of the river. Two parties were now landed ; 
one of which proceeded against the fort, which was 
carried without serious resistance, and the other 
entered the town. Most of the inhabitants had fled 
into the interior, and but very few soldiers were 
seen, who were brave enough to stand, even for 



OF AMERICAN HEROES. 497 

a few moments, before the American fire. Commo- 
dore Perry took possession of the town, having lost 
but seventeen men, killed and wounded, during the 
day, and ordered the forts on the river to be de- 
stroyed. Those inhabitants who were peaceably 
disposed, were invited to return and resume their 
occupations ; and on the 22d instant, the Commo- 
dore re-embarked his forces, and set sail for Yera 
Cruz, leaving the Albany and Reefer, under Cap- 
tain Breese, to guard the river and town, and also 
directing one of his vessels to blockade the stream 
on which the town of Soto de Marina is situated. 



CAPTURE OF SANTA CRUZ DE ROSALES. 

Governor Trias had collected between 1500 and 
2000 men, and fourteen pieces of artillery, at Santa 
Cruz de Rosales, a strongly fortified town, about 
sixty miles beyond Chihuahua, and General Price 
determined to march down and attack him. 

He left El Paso on the 1st of March, 1848, with 

400 men, and arrived at Chiliuahna on the 7th, 
23* 



498 DARING DEEDS 

performing the distance of 281 miles in seven days. 
After Colonel Doniphan's dejDarture, Chihuahua had 
been reoccupied by the Mexican authorities, and 
General Price was met, on his approach, by a civic 
deputation, who represented that a treaty of peace 
had been concluded, and requested him not to 
enter the city. Doubting the information, as he 
had received no official intelligence of the fact, 
General Price entered the town, and on the ensu- 
ing day continued his march to Santa Cruz de 
Eosales, where he arrived in the evening. On the 
morning of the 9th he summoned Governor Trias 
to surrender. The latter refused to comply, stating, 
also, that it was understood there, that the war had 
been terminated by a treaty. Considerable parley- 
ing ensued, and General Price finally consented to 
wait for four days, during which time a messenger 
was expected to return, who had been sent by the 
governor, to ascertain whether the rumor in regard 
to a treaty was well founded. 

After waiting twice the specified time, and hav- 
ing been joined by a reinforcement of 300 men, 
whom he had directed to follow him, with the ar- 
tillery. General Price determined to attack the 
position, on the morning of the lOtli of March. 



OF A M E i; T C A N H K R E S , 499 

Another demand for a surrender was made, Vv-liicli 
was rejected, and the action then commenced by 
a lively cannonade. A good impression having 
been produced, General Price divided his com- 
mand into three parties, under Colonel Ralls, 
Lieutenant- Colonel Lane, and Major Walker, who 
were directed to attack tbe works, from three dif- 
ferent positions. The contest was maintained with 
vigor until eleven o'clock, when it was suspended 
in consequence of a rumor, which proved to be 
false, that a body of lancers were moving up in 
the rear. At three o'clock in the afternoon, the 
attack was renewed with increased zeal, and con- 
tinued until sunset, when the Americans had bur- 
rowed through the houses to the Plaza; and the 
Mexicans then surrendered at discretion. 

The enemy lost 300 killed and wounded at the 
storming of Santa Cruz de Rosales, while the 
American loss was but five kilied and twenty 
vv'ounded. • 



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